Gravity of the Sun
by WingingItLass
Summary: After battling with a member of the Kouman organization, Tamaki Amajiki is left injured and wakes up in the hospital. The worry that Mirio Togata, his best friend and fellow prohero, shows for him paves the way for bigger feelings to show themselves! Some OCs, LGBT pairings, and M rating will be for sexual situations and villain related violence.
1. Wake

"No, that's not true," the familiar voice cut through the haze of Tamaki Amajiki's mind, just for a moment. "He'll pull out of this, just give him time, you'll see."

Then the darkness took him again. 

His hand was squeezed. "You're okay. Just rest. I'll be back soon, you wait here." 

"We got him. He's off the streets now. I'm here with you now, till the moment you open your eyes."

…

"Has he responded to anything yet?" it was Fat Gum's voice this time.

"No, he flutters his eyes a bit from time to time, but that has been all we could get out of him. Mister Fat Gum, I think we should start to think about calling his agent to draft a statement. It's looking like he may be here a while."

"No, we'll give him more-"

The heaviness of sleep gave him silence once again. 

"I know that you're probably sending yourself down a hundred different worst case scenarios right now, but you can't be doing that. Recovery is the only option now. You have to wake up Tamaki, you have to!" his voice sounded unsteady, causing Tamaki to stir, ever so slightly, before sleep took him once more. 

His eyes opened, just for a moment. Long enough to see Lemillion there, in full uniform, hands waving around while he said something to a man with a white lab coat on. What was he saying? Why couldn't he hear it? The fog overtook him. 

Tamakis heart pounded in his chest, feeling his arms pulled apart at the seams once again. Why couldn't he scream out or run from it? The panic lasted only moments before his mind shut itself down once again.

…...

His hand was being squeezed again. "Tamaki Amajiki it's time. You've rested, and you can still rest once you've woken up, I promise. But you need to open your eyes. The world needs it's Suneater back… I need you back."

Tamaki tried opening his eyes but his body wouldn't respond to his commands.

_Get up._

_Get up!_

_GET UP!_

His eyes finally slammed open, the world still dark, save for the green glow coming from the monitors hooked to him with so many needles, wires, and sensors. But nobody was next to his bed, squeezing his hand… they were just laying cold at his sides. Had he hallucinated it all?

"Tamaki." There it was, the voice washed over him making the world warm again. Always the Sun, even in a darkened room. But the spark of life that usually dripped from every word that left that mouth was absent, something was wrong.

He willed his body to sit up, ignoring the screaming of his muscles and bones. It took his eyes a moment to focus on the figure that was just a couple feet from the bed, slouched over in the cheap recliner that was dwarfed by the large frame that had taken it over. He watched as his friends head whipped to the side in his sleep, saying his name again. A nightmare.

He forced his body further, scooting to the edge of the bed, pulling tape and needles from his arm. The monitors began chirping angrily.

"Mirio?" Tamaki's mouth formed the name, but no noise came out.

His feet finally touched the cool ground. "Mirio!" The room began to spin as he willed his feet to hold the rest of him up, and failing.

Luckily gravity answers to the sun, and his Sun just so happened to be faster, even when just snapping from a nightmare.

"Tamaki?" the hero leapt up, catching him before he could fall.

"Tamaki!" Mirios arms wrapped around his friends small frame easily, lifting him slightly from the ground before crushing their lips together.

That's when the screaming of his body won it's fight with Tamaki's will and the fog washed back over him. 

"He seems more responsive now, for sure, and his vitals seemed to pick up before the connection was broken. What did you say happened?" the vaguely familiar voice rang through Tamaki's head like a gong.

Mirios throat cleared and Tamaki opened his eyes. "He just got up suddenly, I think it might have been a little too fast or something. He fell right back over."

"Well, I think we could expect some real progress in the next few days. Why don't you head home and we'll call you if-Oh! Youre awake!" it was his doctor speaking, looking at Tamaki while he tried to adjust his eyes to the harsh lights of the room. "It's good to have you back. Do you know your name?"

He blinked at the man before processing the question.

"Amajiki…. Tamaki," his voice came out a rasp.

"Exactly! You stay right there in bed. I need to go grab a few nurses and your charts, then I'll be back."

The man had barely walked out the door when Mirio's throat cleared again. Tamaki looked over to see him half turned away, a redness in his cheeks he had never seen there before. It looked like a Mirio from another dimension. The guy that usually had perfectly chiseled features and a broad smile now had puffy eyes from lack of sleep or crying (or both), a red flush to his cheeks, and his golden hair hung down into his eyes just slightly. Who was this person?

"I'm SO sorry…" Mirio choked out. He turned his body to Tamaki but didn't dare look at him yet. "I just…I was just so worried and I saw you standing there and I just couldn't stop myself and then you feinted. I know I should have said something…. said anything. I'm just…yeah. Sorry."

"If you want me to go, I'll understand." He closed his eyes and looking like he was bracing for an impact.

Tamaki blinked. "…What?"

Mirio looked up, confusion crossing his features, and just stared at him for a moment. "I- I kissed you? And then you like… passed out."

Tamaki's blood rushed to his cheeks. "Yo- You mean… that happened?"

Mirio let out a little chuckle. "Yeah," he brought a hand up and scratched the back of his head. "I really am sorry Amajiki. I should have waited until you were out of here to have a conversation or something. I'm not sure. I was just so relieved to see you standing there, it just happened."

"A conversation...?" Tamaki's head was beginning to spin again and his voice was barely a squeak.

"Yeah," Mirio's foreign blushing face came back, this time right in front of Tamaki's face. "I know my timing isn't ideal, but I like you Tamaki. Not in the best friend, classmate kind of way. In the I've been thinking about kissing you like that for a while kind of way."

Tamaki was silent.

"I mean, not exactly like that," Mirio let out a nervous chuckle. "But you get what I mean…right?"

"You like me?" Tamaki's face was so hot he thought it might pop.

"I do. If you don't like me the same way, I understand. I sprung this on you and that really isn't fair, especially after everything you've been through." His voice began to quiver again and he gently took Tamaki's slender hand into his own. "I am just so damn relieved you're back."

The doctor came back into the room and Tamaki dropped his hand to his lap, trying to look at the man despite his world warping around him.

"Mister Tamaki Amajiki, could you verify your date of birth for me please?" the doctor launched into questions and treatments, robbing the friends of the rest of their conversation.

…..

The next few days were hazy for Tamaki. Nejire, Kirishima, Fat Gum, and a few others stopped by. Mirio with them of course, but they were never left in the room alone together and he never seemed to make direct eye contact. Finally, the time came for Tamaki to be discharged under the condition that he goes to checkups every other day and took a break from his normal day to day activities.

He went into the restroom of his hospital room to change from his horridly cold gown into his sweater and jeans. When he came out, he found all of his things neatly folded and stacked on the bed, Mirio standing behind the bed, waiting.

Tamaki's cheeks immediately turned red at his best friends smile and he turned to hide his face.

"Is it okay that I'm here?" Mirio asked.

Tamaki's tightening throat wouldn't allow for words to come out.

"It's okay, I can go. You know where to find me," he turned to walk out of the door.

Before he could take a step, Tamaki closed the distance, grabbing the other boys' hand but keeping his face to the floor. "Don't."

.….

Tamaki's apartment was cold and dark when he stepped through the door for the first time in apparently over two weeks. He had been out cold for twelve days and stayed for a few extra to be monitored. There was a reason top of the line insurance was a requirement for prohero work.

He had spent two nights back at Nejire's house until the ache in his bones began to fade, but now he was home. His cat, who had been fed by his kind neighbor Deedra, shifted in the window sill.

"Hello Poucchi," he knelt down, rubbing his fingers together and the cat jumped over to him, purring.

The cat followed him as he walked through the small apartment, making sure there wasn't anything he needed to put back in order after his absence. Once Poucchi's box was cleaned and a grocery list made he plopped himself down onto his bed, sighing.

Mirio was supposed to stop by so they could talk things over, but since he had patrolling to do across town, there was no telling when that would be. Probably pretty late. So Tamaki allowed his eyes to close while his cat settled to sleep on his chest.

There was a low thumping coming from outside. A rhythmic hum just loud enough to break Tamaki from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and turned over in the bed, waiting for whatever it was to stop.

It didn't.

Groaning he rolled out of bed and to the window, a knot twisting in his stomach as soon as he opened the curtain. Standing there in the last of the sunlight, was Mirio, boombox in hand and the biggest smile Tamaki had ever seen on his face.

He felt his entire face and ears turn bright red before he ducked back behind the protection of the curtains, breath catching in his throat. What the hell.

Suddenly, big blue eyes phased through the wall, right next to Tamaki's face. A chuckle escaped Mirio's mouth. "Hey, I had a whole speech!"

Tamaki felt his face redden even further.

"Isn't this how someone is supposed to properly confess their feelings?" he chuckled to himself again. "Can I come in?"

He nodded at the boy, watching as his large frame phased through the wall and into his bedroom. The blonde pulled out a small remote and hit a button, stopping the music that was coming from the boombox outside.

The two sat there, leaning against the bedroom wall for a moment, waiting for Tamakis face to return to a normal shade.

A booming laugh erupted from Mirio, making the smaller boy jump. "This is weird, isn't it?"

"Y-yeah, a little."

Mirio took a deep breath and smiled, steadying himself. "Yeah, but we might as well just be out with it, right?"

Tamaki nodded.

"So, I meant it when I said I was sorry about pouncing on you at the hospital, that was wrong. I came here to try and do it right, but… I've never seriously done this before, so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do or say, ya know?"

Tamaki closed his eyes and focused on breathing, angling himself towards Mirio so he knew he was still listening.

"I've had romantic feelings for you for a long time Amajiki. Right after graduation I think I knew, but once we both got more caught up in heroing we started to see less of each other and I felt a little…lost, I guess. Then, I finally see you for the first time in almost two months and you were in constant danger!"

"So were you," Tamaki finally found the smallest piece of his voice. "It's the job."

"Yeah, but you always threw yourself into the fire. You were SO careful back at UA so seeing you jump right into it, throwing caution to the wind, it scared the hell out of me. You were taking bigger and bigger risks all the time and when I showed up to that robbery, when you got shot, everything just sort of clicked. You were bloody and injured and you still took the guy in and kept everyone safe, without any back up until it was already over. You were so sure of ability to do your job, something that you never used to have faith in. It was a development I wasn't there for, because I was off trying to get better too, and it made my heart hurt. I wanted to be there to see every achievement you reached!" he paused for breath, looking at Tamaki.

"Mirio…. That's been over a year ago."

"Yeah, that's why I started getting us three together every week again, so I'd have a smoother transition into being close again. Once we started seeing more of each other again I started to feel better." His booming laugh made Tamaki jump. "But I never knew how I was supposed to tell you! Hey bud, wanna get a pizza and be my boyfriend? Not exactly the smoothest way to transition!"

Tamaki's breath left his lungs at the word 'boyfriend.' He felt a warm hand on his chin, angling his face up to meet Mirio's eyes.

"But it is true Tamaki, I have feelings for you." He paused, no doubt watching the redness return to his friends face. "You have been my best friend for nearly my entire life, and I would really like to try and take this next step with you. I, please, just need you to either tell me to lay off or that maybe you feel the same way."

"I do..." Tamaki kept his eyes on Poucchi, desperately trying to avoid the blue pools of Mirios.

"You do? You…have feelings for me too?" Tamaki could hear the smile on his friend's lips. "Like… romantic ones? Or you're my best friend and I don't want to make things awkward so I'll say it too, kind of thing? Because this isn't something I want you to do if you're, ya know, heart isn't in it."

"Mirio, I have been telling you how I feel, calling you the Sun in my sky for the better part of a decade…. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but most guys don't say that to people they just want to be friends with,"

His smile widened listening to his friend's words. "So, it's okay that I like you?"

Tamaki was sure that if his face had gotten any redder it would burst. "Do you have to say such embarrassing things?"

Mirio got up on his knees, putting his arms on either side of Tamaki. "So… I'd like to try that kiss again if you promise not to feint on me this time."

His hand turned Tamaki's face towards his own, sending a wave of heat through Tamakis body. Mirio pressed his lips to Tamaki's, kissing him gently.

…...

A bit of an edit here to Chapter 1, I couldn't come up with a draft I loved for this chapter but then 2 and 3 just poured out. Stick with us here and let me know what you think!


	2. Slow

-Mirio-

"Now _that_ was POWER!"

"That was special effects, this is power," Tamakis hand suddenly shifted into a hooked talon, greenish scales replacing the pale skin.

"Woah! What is that?" I grabbed the talon that was his hand, turning it over.

"It's a hybrid! I've been working on something to show you for a while but none of those weird snacks Fat Gum had imported got as close as hawk and lizard." He smiled up at me, proud of his prehistoric looking creation.

"You tried to create dino limbs for me? That's the sweetest thing any boyfriend has ever done for me!"

Immediate redness all the way from his cheeks to ears. Beautiful!

"I'm the only boyfriend you've ever had," he said. "And lizard is weird, so enjoy it before I'm done digesting. Unless it activates some cool new ability, I won't be having more anytime soon."

"Ha! Don't eat lizard on my account! It's totally freaking awesome, but let's go manifest some french fries, huh?"

…..

"Lemillion! Suneater! Do you care to comment on the reports that you two are living together?" was the loudest question that came through from the small pack of about eight reporters waiting outside the fast food joint they had ducked into after their movie.

Tamaki looked as if one more word would send him into an all-out panic.

I laughed, throwing my arm over his shoulders and pulling him closer. I kept walking, slowly as to not seem rude but quick enough to let the reporter know I wasn't waiting around to interviewed. "We've only been officially dating for a week! Slow it down guys!"

"Officially? Is the to imply there was a…" the question fell off as the reporter realized the proheros weren't going to be turning back around.

The walk back to Tamaki's was only about a mile, nothing but a hop-skip-jump from where we ducked the paparazzi. I stopped to photobomb a couple middle schoolers as they took snapshots with a selfie stick, trying to get Tamaki to take part in my shenanigans was like asking Sir to stop being an All-Might fan; simply wasn't gong to happen!

"Yo, DeDe! How goes it lady?" Tamaki's elderly neighbor turned at my greeting, smiling stretching from one large cat ear to another.

"Hello there, sweeties!" She rang out. "Do tell that Poucchie I said hello too!"

Tamaki nodded, turning the key and disappearing into the apartment.

"See you later Deeds!" I ducked in after him. Noticing the first drops of tonights storm falling just as I did.

Tamaki started gong through his just home routine. Keys in the little tray sat on the entryway table, jacket hung on one of the three hooks, lights on, lazily walking through each room of the house before shuffling into the kitchen. He tucked a piece of his dark hair behind his ear, showing me his profile. Damn. If he could just see this from my point of view, he'd never hide behind that blasted curtain of hair again.

Walking out of my shoes and into the kitchen I opened the fridge and grabbed two soda cans.

"Do you have patrols tonight?" he asked without breaking his gaze away from the snack cabinet. What a metabolism.

"Nope! I'm picking up some of the slack next week when Bubblegirl goes out of town, so she's showing me some mercy. I have tomorrow free too if you want to do something together!"

Finally, he grabbed something, hopping up onto the counter before throwing a couple pieces of _something _into his mouth, undoubtedly a quirk snack. Speaking around his food, "I have my last check up at eight, free the whole day after that I think."

I couldn't help but smile at him. "You're cute, you know?"

A piece of his food stuck in his throat and his face started turning that beautiful shade of red before he turned his head to the other side of the room. Nah, simply won't do!

One pace got me across the room to him. His legs were spread on the counter just enough to slip between and wrap my arms around his shoulders, making him cough a little more around his food. Even with his head on my chest I could tell there had to be a red on his face a couple shades deeper than before. "Eventually you'll quit being embarrassed by me, right?"

He swallowed hard. "I-I'm not embarrassed of you. The things you say are just embarrassing!"

"That you're cute?"

Quick nod.

"Okay, so cute is a no go? How about… Show stopping? Beautiful? Handsome? Magnificent?"

He made a cute little noise before pulling his head off of my chest. "Stop it."

"Not a chance, babe!" I laughed, putting my hand up to his chin, hoping for a quick kiss.

He still seemed flustered whenever I moved to kiss him without a little warning, so this signal had become something of a regular thing. Getting used to the new dynamic has been hard on him, which makes it feel weird that it hasn't been for me. Slowly but surely, that's how this will have to be.

He angled his face up to mine, dark eyes looking up and sending a shiver down my spine.

"I mean it," I told him, pressing my lips to his. Pulling out of the hugging position, lips still locked, I put one hand on his back and pulled him a little closer, and the other on the side of his face.

Taking a barely there nibble on his bottom lip brought the smallest of sighs from his mouth, putting a knot in my stomach as a familiar warm wave went through me. Touching him like this, being able to touch him here in the real world instead of in my head nearly made me dizzy. Jeez.

I pressed into him harder, deepening the kiss. Another little noise escaped him, he had both hands firmly gripping the counter top but moved one just under the bottom hem of my shirt and rested it on my waist. This time it was me who groaned, pulling our bodies even harder together.

Like the noise had snapped him back into reality he pulled back slightly, moving his hand back to the counter top. Shit… So much for slow and steady.

I stepped back a little and moved over, leaning over the counter next to him so he didn't see exactly how much I 'appreciated' the exchange. "Sorry, carried away!"

"Mm," his face was still red, and now his lips were too.

"I know you want to take it slow, so that's what we'll do!" I smiled at him. "Maybe some video games then? I brought a couple in my bag!"

…..

-Tamaki-

'I know you want to take things slow'

I know you want to take things slow? What was that supposed to mean? Never once had I said that, and I'm not sure what part of the encounter made him think that, but Mirio just gallivanted off like nothing had happened and started setting up his gaming console. The feeling coursing through me told me games wasn't on the agenda.

Okay, games. Playing video games with Mirio, something we did a hundred times before. Breathe. Just breathe Tamaki.

"We're good to go!" he beamed from the other room. "What do you want to play first?"

BREATHE. "Uh, you pick!"

Sliding off of the counter, willing my face to turn a normal human shade again before facing him. The wind and rain had started to pick up outside, making noise that was oddly comforting. Breathe.

"Did you grab sodas?" my voice came out mostly normal. Score.

"You know it!"

I stepped out of the kitchen and into the living area where Mirio had lounged back on the couch, controller in hand, and the bottom of his shirt riding up just an inch or so. BREATHE. I grabbed the second controller and plopped down on the other side of the cushions.

Focus on the screen, not on the fantastic scent coming from your boyfriend. My boyfriend. Oh jeez. My heart started to pick up again. Breathe. Game.

"Lets do it!" Mirio hit the start button on the fighting game he had chosen.

…..

"How are you SO good at all of these?" he groaned, dropping the controller to the couch.

I shrugged. "I have to be better that you at something!"

He laughed again, brightening the room like the sun itself was shining during the thunderstorm. His own personal Sun.

_**CRACK CRASH**_.

A scream sounded from outside. He moved barely faster than I could, my body still not quite up to the task of moving like pro again.

"You're still in recovery, stay!" The words rang out even though he was already half through the wall.

Leaving a pile of clothes on the floor. Stay. Yeah, right.

I slid my cloak on over my regular clothes and walked out the door, into the rain, when it hit me.

Mirio didn't have patrols today. He didn't have any part of his uniform on under his clothes. Looking over there was a large part of a tree sticking right through the next apartments roof. Oh, Deedra was about to have an interesting sight. First a tree coming through her roof, then a naked Mirio appearing through her wall. Sure enough, a second scream let out just then.

I braced my arm releasing enough tentacles to brace a majority of the tree. And began to pull. Mirio must have gotten under it and pushed as the load got a bit easier and the huge chunk of tree broke free of the womans home. I set it to the ground as easily as I could (but that was admittedly still pretty hard) before entering through her door.

"Do you still have that big tarp you used to make a sun shelter last summer?" I called to her before really being through the door.

"Yes! It's in the utility shed!"

"You get the tarp; I'll clear off any remaining debris and get ready to fasten it up there!" Mirio called out, crouching and releasing into a leap, taking him through the hole in the ceiling and onto the roof.

The bright green tarp was easy enough to find with the hawk vision he could still tap into. Hawk was still in circulation, that meant wings. Getting onto the roof was suddenly less of a problem.

Sprouting the wings took a little more effort than was normal, but none the less got him where he needed to be. Tossing one side of tarp to Lemillion, who was crouched next to the hole. "There were bricks laid out by the garden, best thing I could find to hold it down! Think it'll hold till the rain stops?"

"Yeah, I'll put a few on this side to hold. You get the rest, I think I saw some plywood in the shed, putting that over the layer of brick will be even better!"

…

"Thank you, gentlemen! The rain is supposed to stop in a few hours so I think I'll just call for repairs in the morning. I'm not sure what I would do if you hadn't been around!"

"Let us help clean up in here, there's an awful lot of water that got in."

"Nonsense," she chirped back at me. "Get back home and rest, you may be a hero but I know for a fact you're supposed to be taking it easy. I can handle some water!"

"Let us know if you need us, and sorry if you had to see my willy! Next time I'll use the door!" Mirio chirped before permeating through the wall again.

There was silence for a moment as we both stared at the place he'd disappeared through.

"Heavens. How do you hold yourself back having _that_ in your house?" she chuckled. "Head home, I'll see you tomorrow!"

Ducking back into my apartment I was greeted by Mirio trying to remember where he'd phased through originally and left his clothes. Seeing Mirio naked was something that happened almost daily back at UA, but since graduating he'd picked up a few battle scars and somehow seemed even more muscled than he was just a couple years ago. This was a different Mirio entirely. He was older, soaking wet from the rain, and now just staring at me. This may be the thousandth time seeing Mirio in the nude, but this is the first time seeing my boyfriend naked.

My boyfriend…naked, wet, and looking at me.

"I always assume I have my uniform on under my clothes now. Probably gave Deeds quite a fright bursting in like that!" he laughed, my throat started to tighten watching his muscled shoulders shake with the laughter. "I should get her an apology card or something!"

"I think the sight of you was gift enough," it slipped out before my brain could think better of it.

There was silence for a second. Except the deafening thud of my heart as he stepped closer. "I though saying embarrassing things was supposed to be my thing with us?"

I could feel the heat radiating from his body but I turned to the side, eyes shut, willing my face to stop turning red every moment Mirio was near. His hands plucked the cloaks hood from my head, pulling it from my shoulders. "Squid, lizard, and hawk in one day certainly doesn't seem like resting to me."

"I'm getting cleared tomorrow, a little light quirk use won't kill me," breathe.

The warmth of his hand pressed to my chin just second before his mouth pressed to mine, rain-soaked hair dripped water to my face as he took my bottom lip into his mouth, sucking it lightly. His weight shifted forward, pushing me back into the door. Heat poured directly from his body and into me, forming a warm pool in the pit of my stomach.

His hands found their way into my hair, pulling a moan directly from my lungs.

He pulled back, blinking, and took a step back and seeing his clothes on the floor next to him. "Ope, there they are! I'd lose my head if it weren't attached!"

What?

Pulling his pants up over his hips with a bounce he turned around again. "Hopefully the rain stops soon! I would rather walk all the way home in clear weather than wait for the bus in the rain!"

…What? My heart pounded; my pulse could be felt from the tips of my fingers to my toes.

Realizing he was waiting on some sort of response I nodded my head as much as possible without exploding. "Hopefully," why did he sound so breathless while Mirio stood there cool as a cucumber?

He opened his mouth, ready to say something, but instead closed his mouth and just smiled.

Things with Mirio were never like this. Of all the people in the world he felt awkward around, Mirio was one of maybe five things always seemed to flow naturally with, so why now were there road blocks.

"Don't look so glum! You hungry?" He turned to the kitchen. He was a boy after my own heart...and stomach.

I pried myself off of the door. Breathe. Calm down.

The next few hours were spent talking about our agencies, watching a newscast about a small-scale attack (that had been handled by the grenade guy from a few grades behind us at UA, a small restaurant ended up being flattened by the angry hero though, so most of the newscast was spent going over his history of outbursts), snacking, and waiting for the rain to subside.

"Come here," they were back on the couch, Mirio half laying down while I perched on the other end. I looked over to see his arms extended and he repeated himself. "Come here."

Damn this face, stop blushing. I moved over to him, a bit slower than he wanted since he pulled me to his chest. His heartbeat was a steady rhythm in my ear and I let out a sigh, settling into his arms while he placed a hand in my hair. The storms and awkwardness and worry seeped away from my bones as I lay there.

The sound of my alarm snapped me out of sleep. Ugh. My bed seemed to be strangling me, blankets and sheets tangling with my clothes I was still wearing from yesterday. Pulling me feet to the floor and stretching caused a few various pops to come from my bones, bringing a sense of relief. Shower time.

Walking into the bathroom I spotted something bright green on the mirror. A dry erase note.

_You passed out and I didn't want to wake you up. You're a cute sleeper but a horrid snorer, so I moved you to your bed (laughing face drawing) I'll see you at some point tomorrow, probably today once you're reading this. I locked up behind me, the key is under the mat. -M_

_ p.s. You're cute _

My face flushed as I slid out of yesterdays clothes. I showered quickly, pulling on my underclothes to my uniform and walked to the kitchen. The check up would require showing I can still effectively use my quirk, so a wide arrangement of snacks went in my belly and the rest into my side pouch.

I put jeans on over the beginnings of my uniform, grabbed my bag and stuffed my cloak, mask, arm guards, and side pouches into it. The undershirt was a little tight to wear out by itself so I slipped into a jacket as well and headed out the door.

…..

"Amajiki Tamaki, I believe you were told to take it easy," the doctor scolded me, putting his chart down.

"I have been."

"Ha! You're not the only one with a quirk, I know you've been using it with relative frequency. And word has it you were involved with a mini mission during the storm last night."

How did he even know about that? "Uh…"

"Yeah, exactly," he rolled his eyes. "Most people that show down with Breaker are only treated in the morgue. When I told you to take it easy, I meant it." He sighed heavily. "Luckily, you seem to be fine to me. Any questions or concerns?"

"No, I think I'm good,"

"Okay, then why don't you show me what you've got?"

I showed the doc a few different manifestations and got the all clear. Though he seemed particularly unnerved at exactly how many tentacles I could sprout from my arm. He said to push it, I don't think he was expecting his entire exam room to be filled though.

I opted to change entirely into my uniform so I could stop by the agency and tell Fat he'd gotten the all clear. I stepped into the hall as Suneater, a weird relief washed over me. Being Suneater is easier than being Tamaki sometimes.

"Suneater!" the familiar voice barked his name right as he stepped into the street. Fat Gum. "Came to see if you're fit for duty again."

I nodded.

"Good. I'm sure Mirio briefed you on what's been going on with the case since, right?"

_"We got him off of the streets."_

"Uh, actually, he only mentioned something while I was kind of in and out at the hospital. We haven't really been talking about work much."

A grin spread across the large mans face, "Oh, is that so?"

"It's not like that," my face betrayed my words.

"Sure, sure, bud! None of my business! I'm just glad you're back on your feet!" he clapped a hand across my shoulder. "That being said, we should probably talk about a few things. We were going through a few of your notes while you were out and it seems your target was bigger fish than we had originally thought."

"Bigger fish than stealing military grade weaponry?"

"Yeah, if you can believe it," he took off walking in the direction of the agency. People parting so we could walk by. "Your notes were so detailed that we figured out one of his weekly haunts matched up with another criminal on our registry. They were working together as part of the Kouman organization."

"The guys selling quirk gear to villains?"

"The very same. Turns out the guy you were tailing, Jump, is one of their ranking members. When he realized he was being tailed by a pro he enlisted help. Which is why that Breaker guy was waiting for you. We managed to bring him down, but Jump is still out there and Breaker isn't giving up any information on the organization."

"Shit,"

"Mhm. We have had a few people trying to track down more info about this group for awhile now but this is our first time having anything we can move on." He turned a corner, headed away from the agency. I followed anyway. "I know you gave a brief report when you woke up but I was wondering if having some time to step away and relax brought any details or anything back?"

I shook my head. "Not really. He was on me so fast I didn't really have time to do anything but try and stay alive."

"If it were any one of us, we wouldn't have been able to do that even." Fat turned another corner, headed into a darkened alley. "It's a miracle you're still here."

A door seemed to appear out of nowhere as we neared the end of the alley and he went inside it. The clean office surprised me, as if the dark, dank alley behind them should have infected the surrounding buildings.

"This is where we will be conducting the rest of the investigation. I wanted to invite you to join the team since you've been tracking Jump, but I totally get it if you'd rather take a step back and pick up another assignment."

The Kouman are big fish. Not the biggest, but big enough that everyone knew their name and preferred to avoid contact if at all possible. Except pros, of course. Our job was to seek out the big dogs, usually we didn't just stumble onto them though. Coordination and planning are how you take on organizations or people end up hurt…or dead. Luckily for me, hospitalization was the outcome. It could have been MUCH worse.

"Of course, I'll work on it with you. Jump has been my target from the start and he's still out there. I wouldn't be much of a hero if I let someone take over my case just because I got a little banged up."

He chuckled. "Alright then. I'll call you soon to give you more details."

"Actually, I have a question if you don't mind."

"Shoot," he turned back to look at me.

"How'd you guys take down Breaker? I was miles away from the agency."

"When you called in that something didn't seem right dispatch sent for more pros to show up. Two were there within minutes, they saw you go down and realized who it was. So, one got you to the medics and the other tailed him. Once we had a heavier hitting team, we took him down. I think he knew we were coming though; he certainly didn't give up much of a fight. Took us longer to take out his goons than it did to get him into cuffs."

"That was how long after I encountered him?"

He thought for a moment. "Almost sixty hours."

"Why hadn't he gone underground?" it didn't make any sense. Someone of his caliber usually disappeared within a couple hours of being outed.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," he shrugged.

"Okay, well, call me when you've got something for me."

"Will do, be careful out there. You just got back, take it easy."

I stepped back out into the alley, realizing I didn't take as much care keeping track of Fat's twists and turns and I wasn't sure of where to go. Up then.

I let both arms manifest tentacles, using a set on either wall of the alley, lifting myself up to the rooftop of the building. A minute later I was looking out at the city and my phone chirped in my pocket. A text from Hado.

-Amajiki! Back in fighting shape? Meet me in front of UA campus in thirty. Have a presentation to give to students, then we should get lunch!-

By we should she really meant we ARE. She'd hunt me down if I wasn't there when she came out. She usually paid for lunch if she initiated it, so, why not.

Then it hit me. I haven't spoken to her since Mirio and I went public. I was about to get bombarded. Maybe running the opposite direction would buy me a few hours peace?

Not worth the trouble, she would inevitably find me. So, UA it is.


	3. Heated

-Hado-

If he had been in his usual dark sweater and jeans her eyes would have passed by him, assuming him part of the shadow. The crisp white of his cloak gave away his position though, I'm sure to his discomfort. He already looked like a deer in headlights, only if the deer were pretending to not see the car.

"So! You're back at it?"

He nodded.

"Is Mirio joining us today?"

"I don't know, I haven't talked to him today."

Hm, he said that some kind of way, didn't he? "Okay, frozen yogurt?"

He shrugged.

"Frozen yogurt then! Let's go!" I grabbed his arm and walked down the street. "Want to walk or call an Uber or something?"

He motioned to his uniform. "Probably not this time. Let's just walk."

I shrugged, arm still around his, half dragging him down the street. While on duty this behavior is less okay, but until we got out where media might be it was okay. "So, Mirio…"

He stiffened.

"Oh, lighten up Amajiki! I just want the juicy details!" I dropped his arm but lightly clipped him on the shoulder. "You guys have been pining for each other for years, so I assume it's been an eventful week!"

He stopped walking. "What do you mean we've been pining for each other for years?"

I laughed. "You've been comparing him to the sun since I've known you guys! And the only person he's ever really been interested in is you. So! Spill, how goes it?"

His shoulders sagged, just barely. Someone who didn't know him might assume it was just his breathing, but it wasn't. It was a physical sign of something on his mind.

"Uh-oh."

"No, not uh-oh. Just…" he looked away from her.

"Just what?"

"It's a little…awkward," he shrank a little more.

"Awkward telling me about it or awkward with Mirio?" I asked, turning the corner towards town. "I didn't think you had that problem around us."

"I don't…. I didn't," he sighed. "I don't know. When we are doing our normal thing, everything is fine but then…"

"Theeeen…?"

"When we start to…. you know…"

"Bang?" he nearly choked when I said it.

"No, just when we kiss and stuff. He always pulls away from me." His voice sounded more sad than shy in that moment so I stopped.

"You guys have only kissed?"

"I mean, he got naked in my living room but it was Mirio naked, not a seducing me kind of naked."

"Is there a difference?"

His faced turned red. "You know what I mean."

I started to walk again, close to him so he knew I meant to comfort, but not close enough that press would start writing scandal articles about us if we were spotted. "Why do you think he's pulling away? Didn't he make the first move?"

"He did." He nodded. "He also said that he knows I want to take things slow, but I've never said that, and every time we…start, you know, I'm receptive. Even in the hospital!"

In public he hardly ever brought his voice to a normal level, and now he was slightly raising it. Whoa. "In the hospital?"

"Yeah, he kissed me right when I woke up. I think I kissed him back before I passed out,"

"Holy crap! You passed out when he kissed you?" I couldn't help but laugh. "No wonder he's a little stand offish!"

He scowled at me. "I had been in a bit of a coma!"

"Fair!" I shrugged. "Still, I can't believe I let you stay at my house and you didn't have the decency to spill the tea on all of this. Like, jeez Amajiki!"

"I wanted to wait to talk about it until I hammered things out with Mirio,"

I couldn't help but smile. "Sounds to me like you still need to hammer it out with him!"

His face turned beet red and he gently pushed me. "Shut up and get me some yogurt."

We walked through the doors of the FroYo place and all heads turned to look at Amajiki, or rather, at Suneater. He was getting better at hiding his anxiety of large groups of people in public, but it was still painfully obvious to me that he was uncomfortable.

"Suneater! Oh, and Nejirechan!"

I waved to the people that were looking as we walked to the counter and I ordered out treats. "Want to eat here or walk with them?"

"I would _love_ to walk with them," he said just so she could here it. Waves of relief were rolling off of him. She couldn't help but laugh as she handed the cashier her money and waited for their orders. "So, is everything okay with you?"

I turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're just not very energetic compared to your usual self," he motioned behind her so shed see the cashier trying to hand her their FroYo.

"Thank you!" I called to the worker and began walking out. "Yeah, that presentation I gave at UA ended up using a lot more energy than I had anticipated. I'm SUPER tired!"

"Do you want to go back in and sit?"

"No, I want to hear more about your little predicament and I know being in there is a good excuse for you to zip your lips!" I pivoted, walking backwards in front of him so I could see his expression.

"You know, maybe the fatigue isn't a result of your quirk. You invited me to lunch and brought me to frozen yogurt. I think it's a diet thing."

"Dude, you're not the one to talk about diets with me. You eat lizards and hawks and beetles." I shivered at the thought.

"Yeah, beetle was pretty bad. Dipped in chocolate it's a little easier to manage,"

"Gag!" we both laughed.

"I'm glad I came out with you. Now, get it over with… what do you want to know?"

.

.

.

-Tamaki-

Going out with Hado definitely changed my mood. I felt refreshed, but also, after talking with her about my relationship with our friend my confusion directed at Mirio had shifted to…annoyance? Something I'm not sure I've ever really felt towards him.

Annoyed.

Huh… I pulled my phone out and sent him a text. -R we hanging out 2day?-

With no official patrols starting for two more days (Fat Gums coddling, I'm sure) home seemed the most welcoming place. I had walked Nejire home and was further from home than I'd like to walk, but taking public transportation while geared up was always a fresh layer of hell. The quickest way home meant busy streets. Which meant people.

"Schmoozing with the public in your downtime IS part of your job! Do you want your rank to take a nose dive? This shy boy thing will only get you so far!" the voice of his PR agent rang clear in my mind. Probably because I've heard it about ten thousand times. Okay, people then.

Chirp. -You text like your twelve (; I'm wrapping something up here, ended up coming into the agency, but I could meet you somewhere in about an hour. Hungry?-

-Nah, got froyo w Hado. Meet at my place? Wanna tlk to you.- Double text. -Like, privately-

Chirp. -Dun Dun Duuuuuuun! Lol. Okay, see you there babe.-

-See u there-

I had barely hit send when I felt a little tug on my cloak. "Mister Suneater?"

I looked down to see a little boy with sandy hair and dark eyes looking up at him, clutching a book on ranked proheros. "Hey there!"

"C- Could… um… Could you sign this for me? …Please?"

I gave him the best smile I could muster. "Of course! Do you have a pen I could borrow Mister….?"

His eyes widened with panic and he snapped his head around, zoning in on a woman about five feet behind him. "Mommy, do you have a pen? And i-its Ryean,"

The woman nodded and began to dig in her bag.

Time for a little 'pizazz.' I let one of my fingers morph into a single long tentacle and stretched it over to the boys mother, beckoning for the pen. She handed it over, taking great care not to touch the red extremity. When I looked down at the boy his eyes were widened with wonder this time. I let my other hand become a large talon and took the pen in it, signing my hero name onto the page he had opened it to. The signature was messy (talons are the best in terms of penmanship) but I happened to notice the horrid high school picture that had been put in the book (with the name of my quirk and brief descriptions of a few accomplishments and missions) and felt my face flush. "When do they update these pictures? Hoping to make it something cooler next time! What do you think?"

The boy fidgeted a little but laughed. "I think it'd be cool if they used the one the news does, where your fighting that bad guy with your wings out and your tentacle things!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "The tentacles are a little weird, aren't they? But they're just so darn helpful!" I closed the book and handed it back to him. "I hope you and your mother have a wonderful day, little Ryean! Get where you're going safely!"

He ran back to his mother, squealing and pushing the book for her to look at the signature he'd just gotten. She quickly started walking down the street again. Quota met, and with a pleasant kid instead of a drooly teen or creepy middle-aged super fan. That qualifies as a win.

The rest of the walk home was uneventful aside from a few people snapping photos as I walked by. As I turned into the inlet that the three apartment buildings sat in, I spotted a few workers up on the roof fixing Deedras damages from the storm. That was fast. I waved a hello when a few of them spotted me and ducked behind the building to go in through the window. So far, the media hadn't gotten ahold of where I live, keeping it that way would be nice.

Poucchi didn't appreciate me bothering her sunbathing but meowed and moved to a different window.

I did a quick walk of the apartment, turning on a couple lights before grabbing some crisps and sitting on the couch, clicking the TV on. I clicked through a few channels, finally settling on some show about a guy who woke up one day in his forties with the ability to steal other people's powers when he'd been born quirkless. Could have been decent, but the budget clearly wasn't enough to pay for actors that knew what they were doing.

Mirio phased through the door just as the protagonist stole the ability to genderbend himself. Oof, can see where this is going. I tried to not fully look at him yet. I know how he looks in that damn tight heros uniform, don't need that clouding my brain any more than his base presence already did.

"If only I could get a picture of this into the media," he smiled, gesturing to my full uniform, while I was laid back on the couch.

"I'm sure my standings with teens would skyrocket, but tank with anyone over the age of twenty-five!" I chuckled at the thought of the ridiculous captions they'd tag with it. _'Suneater, manifestation of a couch potato!'_

"Who needs those old people anyway?" he smiled.

"Well, we're almost to twenty-five. You calling us old?"

"With they way your back can pop and crack?" he laughed from his belly. "You're already ancient! Do I still have clothes here?"

"Yeah, you've got a bag under the bathroom sink, remember?"

He strode into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door. My eyes stayed plastered to the TV, but the heat was already starting to get to my cheeks. Damn it. Took him less than a minute to be out of the bathroom, wearing grey sweats and pulling a black shirt over his head, giving me a quick view of his bare torso.

Breathe. You've seen it before. "Hey, can you grab me a pop while you're up?"

"You got it," he winked and strode into the kitchen. "Snack?"

"No thanks, had frozen yogurt and crisps," I reached my hand up for the pop he tossed to me. "If this fizzes everywhere, I'll blame you!"

"It won't!" he hopped over the back of the couch, landing next to me. I popped the tab and took a drink, letting the fizzy drink sit in my mouth for a second. "So, you wanted to talk?"

"Mhm," I swallowed but kept my eyes on the TV.

"Mhm?" he laughed. "I'm not much of a worrier but could you tell me what about…?"

"Yeah, do you want to go get a drink with me?"

He sat up at attention. "You never drink."

"Yes, I do, just not as often as like…everyone else."

"Well, I'd love to take you out for a drink! I'm not exactly dressed for it though," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"We could just go to the store and come back here. We'll go out another night,"

"Yeah? How about Friday night then?"

"Sure," I kept my eyes on the TV. Keep it together. "You want to go to the store together or you want me to go?"

"Neither! I'll be back in a few minutes!" he pecked me on the cheek and shot out the door.

Jeez, how had I been so easily casual with Mirio all these years? It's like having a model laying on your couch, only better.

I went to the fridge and pulled out a wine cooler, the only alcohol in the entire house, and downed about half of it in one go. Having a slight head start on Mirio might be a good thing, though with one wine cooler usually I was officially tipsy. Tipsy bordering on drunk would be okay, trashed would be no good. So, two drinks, then the conversation needed to happen.

I walked into the bathroom, taking another long drink, and pulled my cloak off. You can do this! Just like any other conversation you've ever had with him. Just breathe, get out of your head, and TALK to him. Another long drink, nearly finishing it off. I took the mask off and tried running a brush through my hair, it didn't tame it, but at least getting the knots made by the cloak out made my head feel better. Another small sip and the wine cooler was gone.

I hung up the cloak and mask quickly and went to the kitchen to throw the bottle in the recycling bin. It needed taken out, but that'd have to wait until I'm not focused on getting rid of my nerves long enough to talk to my boyfriend.

"Oy!" the door opened and he stepped inside. "I didn't know there was a liquor store on your block! I got a couple wine coolers and a bottle of whiskey. It's harsh, I didn't like it when All-Mights American friend had sent me some to try, but it kinda grew on me. You should try it!"

I could only smile when he walked into the room, handing me the prechilled wine coolers. I popped one open and sat the others in the back of the fridge. "Thanks for going. I feel a bit…peopled out today."

"Yeah I saw that you did some schmoozing today," he poured himself a drink. My face must have given my confusion away. "The media snapped a pic of you signing an autograph and I get alerts for anything mentioning you in the news."

I internally blamed the heat rushing to my cheeks on the alcohol. Then took a sip of the new drink. "Oh, yeah. Sweet kid, I wasn't sure if he was more excited or scared of me!"

He dipped his head lower to get a better look at me, grinning. "Did you get a head start on me Tamaki? That's not fair!"

I let out a curt laugh. "Ha, yeah, _that's_ not fair."

His expression changed. "Are you okay babe?"

Breathe. "Yeah, I'm fine!" I tried my best at a smile, motioning for him to drink. I've found people tend to be more open with their words when they've had a bit to drink. So Mirio needed to partake as well.

"Okay?" he smiled again, this time I didn't divert my eyes in time and a warm knot began to form deep in my gut. Jeez. "Are you really going to go out with me on Friday?"

I nodded, putting a hand up. "Scouts honor!"

"You weren't a scout," he laughed, scooting a little way down the counter to be closer to me. "But I'll keep you to it none the less!"

Breathe damn it. I drank again, feeling the almost dizziness of being tipsy come over me. Just breathe.

"I'm going to take out the recycling really quickly," feeling a summer breeze suddenly seemed like a lot better of an idea than it had a few minutes ago. "Enjoy your drink, I'll be right back."

I gathered up the three recycling bins and rushed outside, taking a deep breath. Just like any other talk.

"Do you need help?" Deedra was outside tending the gardens and watching the workers as they stared to pack up for the day and had caught sight of me just standing there with the bins.

"More than you know," I don't think she could have heard the response but I heard her chuckle a bit and return to the gardening.

"Breathe." I walked the short path to the apartments community recycling and emptied mine into the containers. "Just breathe."

Stepping back in through the door I immediately felt his eyes on me. "You should wear that more often."

I looked down, realizing I was still in just the under clothes of my uniform. By societies standards I could have walked down the street in it and most people would assume they were just work out clothes. But they were the tightest clothes I ever owned and this would now be the second time ever being in them by themselves in front of anyone. The first being the ladies at the agency who made the final adjustments to my pro uniform (well, and anyone that had just spotted me outside, but that's a horror for another day).

"I wear this all the time."

"You know what I mean," he beamed.

I was silent for a moment, remembering Nejires comment. _No wonder he's a little stand offish._

Here goes nothing. "Would you actually kiss me if I stayed dressed like this?"

Mirios smile disappeared. "What?"

I didn't say anything, my eyes glued to his feet. At least they looked normal, even extraordinary people must have a hard time making their feet seem as magnificent as the rest of them.

He took a drink of his whiskey concoction, probably only his second or third sip by the look of it.

"Did I upset you or something?" he set the glass down.

"Yeah," it just fell out. Alcohol is such a dangerous drug.

It looked like I'd slapped him. "What? How?"

"By being weird with me!" the words coming from my mouth finally gave me the motivation to move past him, into the kitchen. I set the bins down and picked my drink back up, taking a sip. "I mean, do you think I'm breakable or something?"

He still looked like I'd slapped him and he hadn't come out of the shock of it.

"I mean, I know I went to the hospital recently but I'm still me. You know I'm not some twig that'll snap under the sli-"

"Whoa. You did not _just_ go to the hospital Tamaki," he finally came out of it. "You nearly died."

"I didn't though, here I am, fit as a fiddle," I motioned to myself with the bottle.

This made the edges of his mouth twist back up into a small smile. "Fit as a fiddle?"

"Yeah!"

"Don't I know it," his eyes lingered over my abdomen.

"Stop it." I tore a hand through my hair, hoping to convince it to stay out of my face for a minute. "You can't look at me like that and then just…run away. You're…you, you can't just run away."

His eyebrows squished together for a second. "Tamaki, what the hell are you talking about?"

I took another sip. "You're always initiating things, getting me all bothered, and then walking away acting like nothing's going on! I'm not sure if blue balling me is the point or if you just really don't know what you're doing to me!"

This time it was Mirios face was the one to turn bright red, but his gaze didn't waiver.

I waited, meeting his eyes.

"I-I'm just worried this isn't something you really want…" his eyes finally shifted.

"What in the hell gave you that impression? We had this talk already Mirio, I've known how I feel about you for a LONG time now. What made you think I'd want to take things slower any longer than I already had been?"

His eyes met mine again and they hardened. "You pulled away from me."

I scoffed. I scoffed at the Sun of my existence, who am I? "When exactly?"

"At the hospital!" it wasn't until his voice started to raise just in the slightest that I realized mine had raised awhile ago. "I was just holding your hand and as soon as someone approached you practically snatched it away. Then again when we were here talking, I kissed you and you held your breath until, literally, the moment I stopped."

"You just do that to people, how is that my fault?"

"I do what to people?"

"Make them forget to breathe!"

At that he chuckled a little. "Unless it's a quirk, nobody does that to anyone."

"You do it to me, it doesn't mean I don't like what you're doing! Or that I want to go slow or whatever, I just want you to… to act like it's something to you, ya know? Like, it makes my heart migrate to my bloody throat but you can get up and ask about the freaking weather or something like nothing happened!"

"You think it doesn't affect me?" he stepped towards me. "It's just that if fells like once you realize it's me on the other side of the kiss you second guess! I was trying to be considerate!"

"Well, don't, damn it!" It came out as a huff. "I don't want you to be considerate or cautious, I-I want you to-"

His body was on mine before I could react, lips crushing together and his tongue snaking into my mouth. He kept pushing, pressing my back to the kitchen wall. I gasped for breath when he finally broke the kiss, applying lighter ones up my jawline and down my neck. Each was like its own attack on my sanity. And when he pressed his hips against mine the rest of my sobriety evaporated.

"Fuuuck, Mirio," he pressed his hips up harder mine while crushing our lips back together. "Umph."

A hand grabbed my thigh, pulling. I braced on his shoulders and brought my legs around his hips, forcing him to grind on me harder. My breath caught as he lifted me higher so he could stand with me still wrapped around him. He broke the kiss long enough to make eye contact. The blue eyes that were usually playful tides were hard sapphires, cutting into my soul.

I pulled on his hair, bringing his face back to where I could kiss him. "Mmmm,"

He strode through the kitchen, pressing me into the wall of the hallway. I took handfuls of the material at his back and pulled them, bringing his shirt over his head. His mouth was on mine again, tongue forcing past my lips and demanding attention. He put more of his weight into me, so he could move a hand off of my ass without dropping me and put it up my shirt. Pulling his finger across my bare skin was like little volts of electricity being sent through me, the noise that came from my throat without my permission made my face heat up more.

He broke the kiss again, allowing me to rip my shirt over my head, throwing it behind him. He took that as an invitation to back up a step, keeping my shoulders to the wall and hips connected with his so he could kiss down my chest. I pulled my legs in hard, forcing him back closer to the wall so I could kiss him. He kissed back hard, first on my mouth, then my chin and back up my jawline, and finally he nibbled at my ear, sending another wave of heat through me.

"Tamaki?" he said it between the kisses he placed down my neck.

"Hm?" words wouldn't form as he brought his head back up to mine, resting out foreheads together.

"I _want_ this," he pressed into me once again so I could feel what he was talking about.

"Take it then," my hands exploring his torso, feeling every muscled ripple it had to offer.

A breathy chuckle left his lips, he rested his head half on my shoulder and half the wall behind me. "We can't. Not like this," he let a hand sneak behind him, pulling my leg from his waist so my feet would touch the floor.

The warmth in my body turned to an unpleasant heat. "What?"

"Babe, you're drunk. I want this, and I know you do too, but I can't let the first time be clouded by alcohol. Not with you,"

"I've had two drinks, I'm not drunk,"

"You cussed at me… like, three times. If you're not drunk then I'm the King of England," laughing again.

I swallowed hard. "Don't do this to me," it came out more of a whine than I care to admit.

"Hey, I'm not trying to pull away," he put a hand on my back, pulling me to him, and the other on my face. "I promise. I just won't let our first time be like this,"

"How _heroic_,"

"Don't be like that," he smiled as he kissed me, lightly this time. "I promise we can have all the crazy, drunken sex you want; once we've don't it the right way."

"Felt pretty right to me," I tried a deep breath to calm my stirring, but all I could smell was him.

"It did," he kissed my cheek. "But it wouldn't have in the morning."

"I need a cold shower,"

"Me too!" he let me go. "But you go take one, I'll be out here."

….

The alcohol seemed to go down the drain along with the cold water, but the feeling of his hands on my skin took longer to go, making me stay in the cold stream for nearly thirty minutes before fully calming.

Turning the water off and stepping out I could hear the TV had been turned off. I wrapped a towel around myself and darted to the bedroom for some clothes. Pulling on some pajama pants and a t-shirt, I heard a knock at the door.

"I got it!" Mirio called out just as I opened the bedroom door. "Thanks man!" he handed money to the guy at the front door and turned around smiling. "Ramen!"

What a beautiful creature. I realized then that his sweats had been replaced with one of my bigger pairs of PJ pants. Probably best not to ask why. I sat on the floor in front of my little coffee table.

"I ordered your usual," he plopped down beside me, pulling out the contents of the bag. "Figured you'd be hungry now."

"Famished," I opened the container and went for a piece of meat first.

"Feeling better?" he smiled at me.

I quickly swallowed the bite. "Well, I'm sober if that's what you mean."

"Sure," he laughed. "Mind if I stay here tonight?"

I looked over at him. "Uh, sure. Don't you have patrols in the morning though?"

"Yeah, but I have my costume here,"

"I guess, if you want to." Heat returned to my cheeks.

"I do," his smile made my bones melt.

We ate in comfortable silence, with the occasional slurp of ramen.

"When do your patrols pick back up?" he grabbed my empty bowl and got up to walk to the kitchen.

"Day after tomorrow. Fat's got some new files for me to go through about my case though. So, I may not even be doing any regular patrols,"

He turned back around the corner, staring at me. "You're joining a task force?"

I shrugged. "I guess, but Jump has been my case for a couple months and my notes brought us to realize the bigger connection. So, the task force kind of formed around me if you think about it."

"I think you should take more time away from it," his face had an odd twist to it.

"What?"

"Breaker nearly took you out of the game,"

"Breaker is behind bars. I've got this, I won't have to work alone on it alone anymore either."

He chewed this over for a minute. "Okay, but I'm worried about it."

"We're pros Mirio, our jobs aren't ever going to be cake walks. I'm good,"

He grinned. "You mean, fit as a fiddle?"

"Shut up," I smiled back at him, getting up from the floor. "I'm going to brush my teeth and go to bed. I'm pretty tired now."

"Alright, I'll be right behind you," he told me as I ducked into the bathroom.

It wasn't until I was almost done brushing my teeth that I realized what he probably meant by that. He couldn't have meant to get me sober and 'do it right' tonight, right?

He came into the bathroom with me still smiling, grabbed his toothbrush out of his bag, and went to work on his teeth just as I finished up.

I grabbed his hero uniform and hung it up so it wouldn't be wrinkled in the morning, he always forgot until it was too late. Then I checked that the door was locked, Poucchi had food, turned the lights off, and returned to my bedroom.

There he was, laying in my bed, arms stretched out for me to come to him. "Mind if I sleep in here?"

"Um, no, that's fine." I could feel my face heat up as I turned the bedroom light off and climbed into the bed. He sighed when I laid my head on his chest, just like I had on the couch the night before. I closed my eyes, listening to his strong heartbeat. "Mirio?"

"Hm?" he already sounded sleepy.

"Do you want a- a key?"

It felt like his head lifted to look at me and his heartbeat changed. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Your heartbeat just sped up a little,"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I bet it did," he kissed the top of my head. "Goodnight, Amajiki,"

"G'night, Mirio."

Authors Note: Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future!


	4. Release

Authors Note: Deedra and Poucchi (Tamaki's neighbor and cat) are both original characters, but this chapter we will bring in more OC heros. Just a heads up. Hope you enjoy!

…...

"So, here's what's up. I'll be doing a LOT of…. fibbing in there. So, if I say something that you feel the need to correct, don't. I know the facts of the case, but I'm here to play him, trust me. I'll be speaking just with him for the most part, but I'll bring you in to hear the conversation. If at any point you feel like commenting don't unless it's in response to something one of us said aloud. Pay attention to our lips, that's the only way to tell. It's imperative he doesn't find out you can hear what we're saying. So far that information hasn't gotten out to the criminal network and it'd be best if it stayed that way. You understand?"

I nodded.

"And Fat Gum has ran you through the interrogation process?" her tone wasn't exactly friendly.

"Yeah, about three years ago when I went in for my first one,"

"Ha! Got some life in you after all, huh?" she slapped the desk chuckling. "Good! Well for the majority of this one I just need you to stand there looking all menacing… or emo, or whatever your aesthetic is. Don't look scared of him is what I'm saying."

"Won't be a problem."

"Fantastic. I'll be right back then," she stood up, picked up a bag from under the desk and disappeared around the corner.

"I know Narrah's a little condescending, but she doesn't mean to be. It's just how she talks. You get used to it eventually," a familiar detective turned around in his seat.

"Hopefully this won't take long enough for me to get used to it."

"Amen to that!" he turned back around but continued speaking. "Unfortunately, with organized crime it's usually next to impossible to get them to talk."

"And that's why I've been brought in," Narrah came back around the corner, dressed in a professional looking suit, hair pulled back from her face, glasses, and what I'm guessing to be makeup covering the markings on her temples. She looked like a completely different person. "You ready?"

"Sure,"

We made our way to the elevators and down to the interrogation levels. Breaker was considered a high-risk quirk user, meaning we had to go down to the high security area. Narrah showed her badge at the gate and I showed my hero registry card and they let us pass.

"There will be a few other observers but seeing as they won't hear much, it's basically a formality," she adjusted her suit jacket and placed a hand on the doorknob. "Remember, I know what I'm doing."

I nodded my head as she opened the door, stepping into the dimly lit cement room where Breaker sat behind a cement table. His dark green skin made the bright orange jumpsuit stand out even more so than usual and his eyes were immediately drilling into me, I saw one of which had the last traces of a cut right underneath.

I took my place at the back of the room, where I could clearly see Breaker and could see Narrah clearly enough in the glass to see when her lips were moving. I had pulled my cloaks hood a little further over my face than I usually do just to make it harder for him to determine my expression.

"How are you here?"

"He is here for my protection," she barely waited for him to finish his question before taking her seat and answering him. "Do you know why _you're_ here?"

No answer.

The room was silent for a moment before the large man blurted, "I'd appreciate if you'd stay out of my head."

"I'd love to, does that mean you'll answer our questions aloud?"

He didn't respond to her question. "I guess that makes you Enterlock though, right?"

"Not many people have heard of me," her face was devoid of all expression, totally blank.

"You have no idea lady," Breaker smiled as he said it, responding to a question she must've asked telepathically.

Silence fell in the room for nearly an entire minute.

"I can always pry harder Mister Safter," she said.

"It's Breaker!"

Her expression stayed blank as she began writing on the notepad in front of her. The room returned to silence for nearly two minutes.

"That's a lie!" he shouted, head snapping in my direction.

At the same moment I saw Enterlock's hand clench for just a moment and I could hear her voice, but her lips remained closed.

_Why did you think I brought him as my protection? Of all the more seasoned heros working this case? Did you think it was chance?_

"I assumed it was a copy quirk, I killed this kid!" he said it aloud.

_No, you surprised him, but here he is. In the flesh, fresh as a daisy._

"Really? How'd I take you down then, huh?" he looked at me asking the question.

"Answer him," this time she spoke aloud.

"I was outside of the warehouse, about to use my gear to listen through the walls. You sent your arm through the window to grab my left arm, we both quirked up. I was a little slow on the draw thanks to your surprise attack, but now I know you're here. Won't happen again."

"Anyone standing in the street could tell that much!"

I just looked at Enterlock.

"You don't have to dignify it, but you can if you'd like."

"There we're at least three others in the building. Jump, whom I followed there, then two guys sitting at a little poker table I could see through the window that was left cracked. One had a scar or maybe a branding on his neck. There was something that looked like tar all over the floor of the place, but nobody seemed too concerned with it."

His face twisted into a disgusted snarl as I spoke. "How the fuck are you standing here? You're the Suneater, you just make fucking octopus arms or whatever the hell, that's not a match for me."

_I can assure you, that's not all his quirk is, but we aren't here to cure you of your ignorance on pro heros. We're here to discuss you._

"So you seem to think," I responded half way through her statement so he wouldn't suspect I could also hear her voice.

"There's nothing about me we need to discuss," he leaned back in his chair.

_Sure there is. Like your boss, our sources tell us that while Jump seems to have you on a collar he doesn't seem to be calling the shots._

"Nobody has a leash on me."

She smiled, the first expression to cross her face since entering the room. "I'm sure that's true."

"I know you're just trying to bait me, bitch." He squirmed in his chair, letting the tattoo on his arm show just a touch. "It isn't going to work. I'll be out of here long before you people break me."

_Is that so? How exactly do you plan on getting out of here? With him as the witness, and target, of at least one attack, it seems to me you'll be here quite a while._

His voice travelled telepathically this time as Enterlock clenched her fist, ever so slightly, again. _They'll get me out, any day now._

_How is that exactly?_

His eyes widened. _Can this bitch hear what I'm thinking?_

"I most certainly can Mister Safter, and I'm not even breaking a sweat yet. Do I need to press deeper or will you cooperate?"

_Did she hear about the break?"_

She didn't respond to his thought that came though, her blank expression beginning to feel unnerving, even to me. "Listen, Mister Safter, at any time I could flex my quirk and have what I need. Unfortunately, HR frowns upon leaving people in vegetative states. They frown upon it, but they don't forbid it. _We know the Kouman organization is selling quirk gear to villains, just tell us who is calling the shots. We wont ask for a location or details, just a name to go on. Once we have that we might be able to broker on your behalf for less time._

She transitioned easily between speaking and… thinking(?) at him.

"Just give us a name," she said this part aloud. "We don't want this to drag on any longer than you do."

_Which name does she want?_

"Why not all of them?"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

_There's no need to say it aloud Mister Safter, just think it. Then nobody can prove you gave up anything._

_When the moon hits your eyes, like a big…. _-he began filling his mind with songs.

The feed cut off as Enterlock stood up. "I think we're done here for now, Suneater. Could you meet me here tomorrow as well? I believe Mister Safter has the potential for progress so long as we show him the proper care."

"Of course," I nodded at her, stepping to the door and knocking twice for the guard outside to open it.

I let her exit first, meeting Breakers eyes before following.

"Get me the captain now!" she said as soon as the soundproof door closed.

We made our way back to the elevators quickly while the guard radioed upstairs for the captain.

"You caught that, right?" she asked,

"Yeah, said they'd get him out then something about a break. If he'd just said it, I'd say he was just trying to make us squirm, but he didn't seem thrilled that you heard it,"

"Exactly," she took the tie out of her hair, letting it fall. "They're going to try and break him out." 

Two and a half hours later, a game plan was in motion. Four proheroes would be placed around the building in random places at all time, rotating out at the same time the police did shift change, as well as an expert being called in to help the officers prep for an attempted attack. Most of the heroes on the roster were those of us already in the loop about the Kouman investigation. Twelve of the sixteen were already up to speed, so the meeting was short getting them caught up.

Guarding a police station sounds even more boring than doing regular patrols. Duty is duty though.

After the meeting for the four new heros brought to the team I tracked down Narrah again, just as she was packing up to leave. "Hey, why did you talk up my quirk to him? I'm sure my not being dead is sheer dumb luck. If he gets word out to his buddies somehow that I'm a witness I'll be targeted."

She laughed. "Sweetie, Jump knew you were onto him, you're already a target. Now you'll at least have him doubting his quirk playing to your advantage. It'll work out."

"Famous last words. I guess you have a point though."

"Yep, so long as we continue to play to our advantages, he'll tell us what we need to know. I've played this game before, he can only keep songs on repeat in his own head for so long."

"C-can you really turn his brain to mush?" I hadn't heard anything about her doing this before, but I also hadn't heard of her until a few short months ago. Even then, most of the info had turned out to be wrong.

"Ha! I bet I could! But with the amount of effort that'd take, it wouldn't be worth it." She shrugged into a police uniform jacket. "When are you on guard duty?"

"My first shifts are seven to three, every day for the next week."

"Cool, the day after tomorrow we'll go back in there at eight, got it?"

…..

"A jailbreak? How exciting!" Hado skipped into the restaurant, not even trying to keep her voice down in the slightest.

"Dude!" Mirio laughed. "Calm it down Nejire! Civilians!"

She finger gunned him. "Right! Eventually I'll get better at that."

The guy at the hosts podium went white as snow at the sight of us. "T-the… You're the Big Three?" I'm sure he didn't mean it as a question, but that's how it came out.

"Yep, sure are! Though people don't call us that much anymore, kind of nice to hear!" Mirio chirped at him, leaning on the podium and extending his hand for a high five. "Tirio Mogata is the name for the table. I know, not super original, but it works, right?"

The host gently tapped Mirios hand, making for the worst high five known to man, and motioned for us to follow him. We were walked to the back of the place, a slightly nicer table with lower lighting and set a little higher than the rest. "Why are we here?" I whispered into Mirios ear as he sat.

"To eat!" he boomed a laugh, catching the attention of a few more people before lowering his voice again. "And celebrate your complete recovery."

"Yeah, speaking of. How did your agency manage to keep word off the streets that you were in such bad shape? Usually if were out for colds media starts speculating about if we've died!" Hado set her elbows on the table and her chin on her palms.

"They told them I left the country working on a mission out in international waters for a few days. Then that I was taking some R&R time to myself," I shrugged. Though, it really was a miracle they pulled it off, usually hospital staff is known to have a media leak or two.

"Mirio said you worked with Enterlock?" her voice actually lowering.

I nodded. "Yeah, but I can't talk about that. They make you sign a gag before they let you work with her, and that only happens if she requests to work with you, I guess."

"Daaaaaang Amajiki!" she grinned. "Look at you go!"

The both of them continued talking but when the waiter placed a crab stew down in front of me I spun the spoon in it idly. There was something bouncing around in my brain about the conversation with Breaker, but…what?

"Is something wrong with your food, sir?" the waiter dipped his head down to catch my eye.

"W-What?"

"You've been playing with it for half an hour Tamaki. They probably think you don't like it!" Hado once again forgetting to use an inside voice.

"N-No, not at all. I'm sorry, can't even eat right…"

"Would you like it warmed back up?"

"No thank you, not worth the trouble," I set the spoon down as he straightened back up, turning quickly around. "Wait, I didn't mean the food wasn't worth the trouble! I meant…"

Mirio and Hado burst into laughter before continuing the conversation. I mostly tried to make myself as small as possible as to not upset the waitstaff any more than I had.

"Hey, this is your celebration!" Mirio put a hand on my knee. "Was there something else you wanted?"

"To go home," I knew they wouldn't take my words as an insult like normal people would have. "And to be normal."

"Hey, you are normal! Amajiki normal, anyway," Hado smiled before giving a little wave to the waiter for the check.

…..

"Sorry you didn't have a good time!" Mirio tossed his jacket onto a hook while I did my 'just got home' routine. "Next time we'll just have a game night with a couple friends, sound good?"

"Yeah," I sank to the couch next to him after giving Poucchi a head scratch. "Are you staying again tonight?"

"I don't think I can, I've got some extremely neglected housework that needs doing." He chuckled. "I just wanted to walk you home so I could get a little of you to myself."

He pulled me over to him, his legs on either side of my waist, and gently kissed me.

"You're being careful with this Kouman thing, right?" his voice had a weird tone behind it.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I worked with Fat Gum taking Breaker in."

"Mhm."

"And I may have called him again when the notice went up for the police station, but he turned me down. My brow furrowed but he continued. "I really want to help bring them down, they put you in the hospital, sure, but they're also supplying villains _I _have run into with supplies. But Fat says that since we've gone public, anything I do could get twisted around and taken as a revenge plot, or whatever, if it gets out that you attacked."

I thought back to the interrogation room, and seeing Breakers face. "Mirio, how exactly did you help them take Breaker down?"

He shifted a little. "I just went into his little hide out and drug him out. No big deal."

"So, the wound that's still healing on his face, nearly a month later, that had nothing to do with you? Or why you've been doing normal patrols these past few weeks instead of working bigger cases?"

An embarrassment flashed across his face for a brief moment. "I might have gotten written up for excessive force. But I knew if he touched me it'd be game over, so I just hit him… really hard. Right in the face. A couple times…"

I sat up sharply, surprising him. "Mirio, was anyone in there with you when this happened?"

"No, I permeated through the wall. Eraser showed up a few seconds later, but he was already out by then."

"You mean… the Eraser who could neutralize his quirk so that beating the shit out of him wouldn't have been necessary?"

A sheepish smile spread across his lips. "Hence that write up."

"Jesus, Mirio," I sat up. "No wonder they won't let you on the team!"

"You were still in a coma! What was I supposed to do, ask him nicely to get into cuffs?"

I chuckled this time. "I do appreciate the chivalry, but let's stick to our own work until the Kouman thing is over. I don't want you to tank your rankings for me. I'll be careful." I leaned over to kiss him again.

He kissed me back, put pulled his face away to look at me. "Okay, but if you change your mind I'll wiggle my way onto that task force quicker than Fat can stop me. Alright?"

"You got it," I couldn't help but smile at him.

"I love when you do that," his smile took up the majority of his face, and the room seemed to fill with it.

"What?"

"Look that happy," he kissed me again and stood up. "I'll call you a little later."

"Hold you to it," I laid back on the couch, watching him as he slid into his jacket and opened the door. "Bye!"

"Bye, babe!" the door closed behind him.

….

I put the weights down as Rhea walked in through the doors of the agency's gym.

"Hey! Back on the five o'clock workouts, I see. How are you feeling?" she sat down on the seat of one of the machines, crossing her legs.

"Pretty good, I've been achy in the mornings, but working again, getting moving, it seems to help," I went and got the disinfectant spray for the weights I'd been using.

"That's good," an elbow went to her knee and she set her face in her palm.

Great. "What is it?"

"Hm?" she smiled.

"I know that look, Rhea. What torture are you trying to subject me to?" I finished cleaning up and put the weights back on their racks.

"You remember how I kept your hospitalization out of the media?" I nodded. "And how I keep diverting your mail to my office so you quit getting surprise packages?"

"Yeah."

"There's an event coming up…"

A groan escaped me before I could stop it.

"Don't give me that Tamaki! I haven't asked you to do a single interview or appearance for over three months! I don't want to say you're getting stagnant, but…" she shrugged. "You've gotta give me something to work with! And! You'd be getting a plus one."

"Great, so I can embarrass myself with an audience."

"No," she scoffed. "So you can make a first official appearance with Lemillion as a couple."

I shook my head. "The media has already gotten a hold of us while we were together."

She stood up, a hand on her hip. "Who am I? Rumpelstiltskin? I'm your publicist Tamaki, I know they've seen you together. But a blurry picture of you two running off together like any two random Joes is different that appearing at an event together. All I'm asking is that you bare through posing for a couple photos between getting out of the car and getting into the building. Is that so bad?"

"I mean… yeah."

"Oh well, I'll send the details over soon. I also need to know what's going on with your new case, I know you'll be keeping watch at the station for the next few days, right? I need to know the times." She began walking to the door while I grabbed my bag.

"I'm seven to three the rest of this week. I'm not sure past that."

She turned, smiling. "Great, because your suit fitting is at five thirty on Broadway. I'll text you the address!"

"Today?!"

"Yep! See you there!" she stepped out of the door, leaving me to despair on my own.

I arrived at the police station at six forty, wearing the police uniform they'd given me so I could blend in with the other officers. The other plain clothes hero on the team showed up right as I did, and the two costumed heros arrived right at seven.

"Good to see you back Mister Amajiki," the girl in plain clothes told me, while sitting across from another desk. "I graduated UA the year behind you, so when I heard you'd gotten hurt I signed on to help."

What? "Oh, well, thanks, I guess."

She smiled. "Not necessary, I've been hoping to work with one of the big three since I made it pro! When I heard you were seeing Mirio I thought I might be working with two of you!'

I felt a bit of heat starting to rise to my face and cleared my throat. "No, we're trying to keep our work lives separate from everything."

"Mhm, I get that," she nodded. "So, have any idea what were actually supposed to be doing?"

"We're basically back up today. When you're in the police uniform, we're just supposed to try and blend. When you're costumed up is when we have to do work, checking perimeter, walking the grounds, monitoring some of the communications signals around the area. Stuff like that."

She grinned at me. "So what you're saying is, we're getting paid to doodle at these desks unless something goes down?"

"Pretty much, just keep an eye open and keep in mind that evacuation is our priority if anything does happen."

"Sweet!"

Chirp.

I pulled out my phone to a text from Rhea with the address to the tailors. Then another one came through. -Be there on time! I'll get there around 5:45/50.- Then another. -And for shits sake, get something fitted!-

-K, see u there- I set my phone down and tried keeping track of where everyone was and what they were doing. Getting a good hold on everyones patterns might come to our advantage.

"Time for you to head home!" Eijiro clapped me on the shoulder, his police hat barely containing his helmet of red hair. "Anything to brief me on?"

"Hey Kirishima. Pretty much a normal day, had a drunk try to swing on an officer but I figured stepping in would only rub in their faces that we're here."

"I've noticed a few of them aren't thrilled about our postings," he put his hand to his chin. "Not stepping on their toes, keeping a low profile is probably the way to go."

I nodded, taking my cap off. "I'm going to go change and head out. Good luck."

"See ya! Tell Mirio I said hey!"

"Will do," I dipped into the locker room and switched into my regular clothes, tucking the police uniform into my bag.

3:40, second shift was a little late. I took a taxi to the inlet of apartments, waved to Deedra who was half asleep in her sun chair, and went inside.

I hung the uniform up and grabbed my cloak and other Suneater pieces and put them in my bag, my under clothes for the costume already on. I scarfed a bit of leftover Takoyaki to quiet my stomach and headed out the door. Hell hath no fury like Rhea when she finds out you're late to an appointment she made.

4:50

Using wings is the fastest travel, but we heros aren't supposed to use our quirks in ways that might disturb the day to day. Another taxi then. I walked a block over to the busier road and flagged one down. By the time the driver parked at the curb next to the tailors my stomach was already wanting more than I had given it. 5:15

I handed the cash to the driver and stepped out, nearly falling right into Mirio. He had on a simple blue t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap, as if that could fool anyone into thinking he wasn't who he is. Mirio is great at a lot of things, blending in not being high on that list.

"W-What are you doing here?"

"I got a text to meet you here at five thirty, so I knew I had to be here just after five to beat you!"

"Who texted you? Rhea?"

"I assumed, but either someone was trying to lure me out, which I'm sure would be interesting, or I'd get to see you. So, really it's a win either way!"

"You're a wild creature," I steadied the bag on my shoulder and stepped further from the curb.

"Ready to do this?" I glared at him, prompting an eruption of laughter. "Come on!"

We walked in and immediately the woman behind the counter knew who we were and what we were here for, plopping us into big plush chairs in the corner, shoving binders at us so we could pick out parts of suits we liked. Liked being a strong word on my part. Mirio had picked out an entire ensemble before looking over at me.

"I guess I should've asked, but what exactly do we need suits for?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. Rhea scheduled me an event that's coming up and just assumed you would be my plus one."

He feigned being insulted. "Would I not have been?"

"Of course, but it'd be easier to wiggle my way out of a solo appearance."

"No, it would not have been!" she walked right up and plopped down on the chair next to us. "What have you got so far?"

Mirio held up the samples for his selection and a picture of the style with a note off to the side with his measurements. Damn him. Rhea looked at me expectantly.

"I'd like it to be black?"

She narrowed her eyes at me and snatched the binder of information out of my hands, motioning for the tailor to come over. "Hi there! So, if you could take his measurements really quickly, I'd like to see him in a few of these different styles. If you don't mind."

"Absolutely, ma'am. Would you like to step behind the curtain with me sir?"

"Not particularly," Mirio laughed at my comment and Rhea shoved my sholder so I'd get out of the chair.

"Part of being a pro is working the public, Amajiki," she started in as the tailor motioned for me to take some of my over clothes off.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes," both the tailor and Rhea answered in unison. 

Four sample suits, a near mental breakdown, and a lot of pleading to be done later and Rhea handed the sample and style she'd chosen over to the woman. "We are going to need these rushed, we'll triple your rates."

"When do you need them by?" she took the binder and began making notes on the papers inside.

"Friday morning,"

The woman laughed. "You want two custom suits in a day and a half?"

"Fine, quadruple the rate, but I want them delivered to my office no later than noon." Rhea shifted her hips just slightly and I knew she had quirked up.

"That sounds good to me! Cash or credit?" the woman only pondered for a second, falling under the pressure of Rhea's Charm quirk.

"Credit please! Tamaki?" she held her hand out.

"You want me to take quadruple the rate out of my account?!"

"You can take half off of what you pay me,"

"You handle my banking though!"

"You're right, I'll take half out of what you pay me! Deal?"

Mirio laughed, handing the lady cash for his.

"Jeez, who carries that much cash around?" I couldn't help but stare at him.

He shrugged. "We were coming to a high end shop, plus, who is going to try and rob me?" he laughed again.

After handling the payments, we all stepped outside.

"Rhea, I had plans on Friday already. I really need more notice for this stuff."

She turned on her heel. "I need more notice when you're going to publicly announce a new prohero power couple!"

The sharp glare she sent Mirio could've cut him. (Who had blurted out that he was dating Suneater when asked about his personal life while walking down the street. Causing a bit of an uproar.)

He chuckled. "Sorry about that!"

"What were your plans? I can do some damage control with a gift basket or something to the right people."

"We were supposed to go out for drinks, just us," I motioned up to Mirio, who had put an arm around my shoulder.

"Oh, well that's perfect! Now your plans just involve nice suits and you don't have to pay for drinks at the event, there will be an open bar!"

I looked up at Mirio, who shrugged again, smiling. "At least we don't have to pay for drinks!"

"We just forked over hundreds of dollars for suits. Probably the drinks would have been cheaper,"

He finger gunned me while looking at Rhea. "He's not wrong."

She looked up and took a deep breath, muttering something. "Listen here, you two are going to go to this event, with your hair done and suits on. You're going to pose for some photos together, trying to show them as little awkwardness as possible," she looked at me for that comment. "And sit there through like two little speeches. Then you can drink and mingle with all the other heros you want."

"All the other heros?"

"There will be about a hundred and fifty of you," she shifted her weight to one leg. "Eyes won't only be on you. This will be good for you Tamaki,"

"Don't you try using that quirk on me Rhea. I'll go,"

She beamed at me and turned to Mirio. "I've been in touch with your publicist, he'll be getting a hold of you soon. Mister Togata, can you PLEASE keep him flexible, and friendly, for just a few hours? The event ends at eleven."

"I'm the man for the job!" he squeezed my shoulders. "Thanks Rhea!"

She flagged a taxi down, stepping off of the curb. "Thank _you_. It's nice having a reasonable one around here for once!"

"Gee, thanks!"

She chuckled at me. "I'll drop your suit off before the event and I'll bring someone to tame that hair. Mirio, your team said they'd have you covered. So just double check that they've got transportation handled, if you don't mind."

"You got it!" he called out as she ducked into her taxi.

"I hate that woman sometimes."

"No, you don't," he laughed. "She's good to you! What have you got going on tonight?" he transitioned subjects without even taking a breath.

"Nothing really, Rhea didn't tell me about all of this until this morning so I didn't plan much of anything. Maybe a little training, I still have some kinks to work out, hopefully before I have to face off with anyone again."

"Okay, could I tag along?"

"Sure, it wont be anything too exciting though,"

"That's fine! Since we're already on this side of town, care if we stop by my house? Gotta grab some clothes."

I nodded and we took off walking.

"Wait, have you even been to the new place yet?"

"No, I was supposed to on game night, but then the whole near-death experience thing happened. How are you liking it?"

He thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. It's nice, and closer to where I usually run partols, but it just doesn't feel very homey yet, you know?"

As we walked, he gripped my hand, gently pulling me behind him while he easily wove through people on the street. A few of them seemed to notice who we were but I just tucked my face down, trusting him to walk us through everyone.

"Here we are!" he hit a button to the side of the large glass door. "Heyo! It's me!"

The door beeped and Mirio swung it open, letting me through first, a cold blast of air conditioning hitting me right in the face.

"Hi there!" Mirio walked past me and up to a man sitting behind a large marble counter that matched the floors. Whoa. "I'd like to add him to my frequent guests. Tamaki Amajiki, sure you heard of him?" he beamed, motioning me. I could feel the heat rising to my face while he spoke. The man was speaking in a normal tone, so I couldn't hear what he said back to him from across the lobby. "Yep! The one and only! I'm dating him, cool, huh?"

Fire broke out across my face so I turned it away from them before either could notice. He always had ways to both embarrass me and send heat waves through me.

He drummed his hands down on the counter a few times and ran over to me. "Come on, he's gotta take a quick picture so that the door system will recognize you!" he grabbed my hand, once again pulling me.

"No, no, no!" my cheeks were probably the color of tomatoes by the time he turned me around so the little camera in the mans hand could take a photo.

"Smile!" _Click_

Fantastic.

"Thanks Chuckie!" Mirio boomed over his shoulder, walking towards the elevator doors without dropping my hand. "Let's go!"

He hit the button and the doors immediately slid open, then closed again behind us. Mirio squeezed my hand and smiled at me, biting his lower lip just a little. And he thought only quirks could make people stop breathing? The redness on my cheeks wouldn't seem to fade.

"Wanting to go to the gym or training grounds?" I swallowed hard, trying to make my voice even.

"Uh, I'm not sure yet. What do you think?" he asked, stepping back out of the elevator once it came to its stop.

"Probably just the gym. It's getting a late so asking about the grounds now might be kind of rude?" he went to one of the two doors in the sleek hallway.

"Mhm, sounds good," he was focused on getting the key out one handed and turning it in the handle. Finally succeeding he stepped inside, dropping my hand as I came in behind him.

The low light made it a little hard to make out, but clearly it was dark hardwood covering most of the open living area and kitchen, and the entire west wall was made up of tall windows overlooking the city.

I tried taking a step further in to get a better look when my back slammed against the wall, Mirio's hand cushioning my head from the impact and his lips on mine. He hooked his thumb into the waist line of my pants, pulling my lower half closer to his while using his weight to keep my shoulders against the wall. His hand being there immediately sent shock waves through my body, bringing it to attention.

He flexed the hand in my hair, pulling it slightly while he moved his mouth to my neck.

"You look SO damn good in a suit," he whispered it into my ear, pulling my hair just a little tighter, making my lips part for a noise that was cut off by his mouth being back on mine, moving his hands to pull my shirts up over my head.

I pulled back, letting him complete the motion before moving back to his lips. His calloused hands gripped at my back, pulling me harder into him as he stepped from the wall, guiding me backwards, deeper into the apartment. His tongue giving a parting flick in my mouth before releasing and pulling back off. He took hold of my hips and lifted for just a second, balancing my ass on, what I could only assume was, the back of the couch and pushed my shoulders down.

I wrapped my legs around his hips and laid back, keeping myself balanced by grabbing the fabric above my head. He wasted no time, kissing and nipping down my chest, then, as his hands gripped my sides, he took a pink bud into his mouth, grazing his teeth across and making the knot in my stomach twist.

"Ah…!"

He kept working, moving his kisses and light bites along my torso, occasionally landing on a nipple and teasing it. Keeping me so distracted I almost missed his hands moving from my sides and undoing the button of my jeans, exposing the top of my Kleins to him. His kisses moved lower now and I released his hips, allowing him the movement.

"M-Mirio?" he kissed right between my hip bone and belly button.

"Mmm?" he kissed one more time. "Is this okay?"

"Yes! Yes, it's okay….Ah…." he went back to work teasing lower before returning to me, helping pull me up to a sitting position while he clumsily pulled his jeans down past his hips.

I pulled him in by the neck and allowed my tongue to meet his, feeling him kick his pants off into the increasing darkness of the room. He didn't break the kiss while heaving me up by my thighs so he could walk further into the apartment. He crossed through a door frame and dropped me, mostly, onto the large bed, my legs partially hanging off still and nearly touching the ground. Standing there above me, he groaned, looking down at my undone pants before ripping them off and tossing them behind him. He dove onto the bed, and onto me. I brought my legs up just before he came down on me, his weight forcing them back further and placing his erection right up against my body.

"Jesus," he gently rutted against me. "Tamaki…" he began kissing down my neck again, pressing his hips into mine each time a kiss landed. His voice rasping as he spoke. "Are you sure?"

"Stop talking," my hands worked of their own accord, pulling his face up to meet mine and from there moving to pull his boxers down over his bulging erection, rubbing against it in the process. "You-Youre bigger than you-"

"Grower," the word was mumbled into my mouth, silencing me.

Only the thin fabric of my underwear separated us and the heat of our bodies together would surely catch them fire soon. The skin of his shoulders and back felt warm and slick with the beginnings of sweat, his smell filled my nose.

He pulled away, trying to move back down my chest. As he got lower, I could feel the knot in my stomach start tightening. "Mirio, Mirio! Wait…."

He brought his lips away from my skin but didn't pull away from me. "Do you want me to stop?"

"J-Just for… just for a second,"

"Oh yeah?" I could hear the smile stretch across his face, understanding what I was saying.

"Do you have…" I swallowed, trying to find words for what was in my head. "Uh…"

He moved quickly, darting to the other side of the room and I scooted back further onto the bed, sliding out of my underwear as I did so. I heard the ripping of packaging and turned to see him sliding his hand down his cock, applying the condom in as close to one fluid motion as was possible for the material.

"Don't watch me," I could still hear the smile, even though his muscled silhouette was all I could make out in the dark.

"Then get back over here and kiss me," did he get me drunk without my noticing?

He obeyed, grabbing a small bottle before sliding back into the bed from the foot of it. He paused, tossing the bottle up to my chest so I could put it to the side. I turned slightly to put it on the pillow next to mine when I felt it.

His warm lips wrapped around me, it felt like he was pulling all of my blood to my one extremity, and a hand shot into his hair, keeping his head still. "Mirio, wait…. I'm still…" his tongue ignored my plea, snaking down and around the sensitive flesh.

He groaned, trying to force his head down further, the vibration of his mouth nearly making me lose my grip. "Baby…please. Not…yet," I pulled my hips back just as he rose his head up.

"What did you just call me?" he wiped his mouth.

"Huh?" he wasn't actually waiting for an answer, instead he shot upwards, finding my mouth with his. The same tongue that had just been working itself around my dick was now in my mouth while his was pressed against me. How did he already know how to play me like a fucking violin?

His hand darted out, reaching for the bottle of lube, finding it and flicking it open with one hand, the other holding the weight of his body from being fully on me. I brought my legs back up, giving him a better angle to work with and grabbed the sheets with one of my hands, bracing myself.

He poured the bottle awkwardly into the one hand, applying it to himself, then me. I was vaguely aware that the pathetic noise I made when his fingers pressed into me would have been embarrassing, but the fire he ignited made all thoughts leave my brain. My arm wrapped around his shoulders, squeezing as he worked his slick fingers, slowly, in and out of me.

"Fu-fuck!" he half sat up, freeing up the second hand and applying more lube to his fingers, adding another inside. I squeezed his shoulders as he lowered himself back down again, kissing me lightly.

"Jesus Tamaki," he rested his head on my chest, still pumping his fingers in and out relentlessly. "Are you ready? I don't think I can wait…"

"Then don't," I grabbed his face latching onto his mouth for a kiss as he adjusted his hips to align better with mine.

He used his hand at his base to guide himself into me, pressing with his hips. My grip on the sheets tightened as he slowly inched his way inside. He added lube to himself, using his hand to rub it onto me as well. I bit my lip, trying to keep from making anymore noise that might make him think I didn't fucking love how he was filling me. But my breath became short quickly as he began pressing into me again.

A moan escaped before I could stop it, making him throb inside of me, and I could feel it. "Tamaki…" his voice sounding strained. "If you want this to keep going you've got to stop making noises like that."

"I don't TH-THINK-" he bottomed out without warning, making my fingers dig into his back while trying not to scream, to no avail. "FUUCK!"

He pulled his hips back just a couple inches before slamming back into me, making stars appear in my vision. "Shit…Mirio."

He grunted softly, half sitting up again, balancing himself by grabbing my thigh and pushing it back with every thrust as he picked up his pace. The heat in my stomach began to pull at me again, his sudden ferocity bringing me back to the edge. I found one of my hands desperately clenching at Mirios and the other on my own dick, already slick with precum.

His mouth came down on my chest and he bit hard, thrusting even harder into me. A sound escaped my lips that could only be described as a sob. The pain of his teeth on my flesh, the rhythm that my own hand was keeping around my dick, and Mirio filling me so fucking completely, it made my eyes roll back into my head, which shot to one side as the pull in my stomach snapped into a release.

I felt ropes of my own cum shoot onto my stomach and up to my chest, a new noise I couldn't control with each burst.

"Shit!" Mirio's arms wrapped and tightened around my waist, lifting my ass off of the bed and onto his thighs while he pumped into me, riding out his own orgasm.

Both of us were breathing hard and just sat there for a few seconds, his dick still semi-hard inside of me. He allowed my hips to rest on the bed again once he got a handle on himself and braced his hands on either side of my face. "Ready?"

I nodded, gripping onto his one arm and his side as he pulled completely out of me. An audible _pop_ as he exited turned his groan into a laugh. He was still sitting on his knees, but laid his head on my chest, both of us still breathing hard.

After a few short moments he grunted, pulling his torso up from me and hitting a light switch, making my eyes snap shut until they could adjust.

"Probably I should have let you move from this position before I turned these on." I opened my eyes to see him staring at me with a glint in his eye, my legs still mostly spread open and a pool of cum on my belly.

Redness began moving back onto my face.

"Tamaki?" there was worry now. "A-Are you crying?"

I brought my hand up to my eyes, finding moisture. "Just exertion, I think."

He stood up from the bed, still staring right at my face. "Are you…okay?"

I nodded, closing my eyes and turning my head so I'd quit feeling his eyes. "I just wasn't expecting you to be much bigger than, like, you usually look."

He let out a nervous chuckle. "Sorry about that, I think? Why don't we hop in the shower, I'll give you a massage under the water, sound good?"

"So much for training," I took his extended hand, allowing him to do most of the work in hauling me up.

"What, this doesn't count?" he cupped my chin and kissed me lightly. "Let's get cleaned up, then get some food."

* * *

A/N: Don't forget to let me know what you think!


	5. Bonds

-Mirio-

I stepped out of the apartment, locking it behind me. Tamaki had left an hour before to get a workout in before his watch at the station, leaving me to my usual morning routine. My boots squeaked against the floor as I entered the elevator and waited for it to take me down to the lobby, it stopped early to let on a woman dressed in her pajamas still.

"Good morning!" I smiled at her, stepping to the side to let her in.

Her eyes widened at the sight of me and I had to put my hand between the doors to keep them from shutting before she could get on.

"Uh, thank you." She scurried in, shrinking into the corner of the elevator.

"Ground floor?"

"Basement…" I hit the button for her as the doors slid shut. "Did something happen here in the building?"

"Oh, no! I just live here now!" I chuckled. "I've only been here about a month I think."

"Oh?"

"Well, this is me. Have a good day ma'am!" I stepped out as the doors opened again and looked to the lobby desk. "Hey Chuckie! How's it going?"

"Good, Mister Togata. Hope you have an uneventful day today," he went to hit the button for me.

"Don't worry about it Chuck!" I phased through the glass door, something he would for sure send a note up to my door for later.

The sun was almost up, making the sky a pleasant purple color, making the whole city seem calmer. I inhaled, taking in the cool morning air.

It'd be a good day!

-Tamaki-

Today was already a train wreck.

The gym that made up the top floors of the agency was mostly shut down, leaving only the track and a few minor machines that were available at most public gyms. Making cardio the only option.

After an hour of what felt like one continuous heart attack I rinsed in the showers and slipped into my Suneater uniform. Wincing only slightly at the discomfort left from Mirio and I's activities the night before. Luckily, this early in the morning, nobody else was around to notice the flush that spread across my cheeks.

The trip to the station didn't take long and I arrived before my watch partner, Leena. When she did arrive, at 7:01, we worked out a general plan for the day. Opting to patrol separately to cover more ground and planning around my absence for when I went to speak to Breaker with Enterlock. Once we had everything laid out, I did a lap around the building before heading to Narrahs desk.

"G'morning, Suneater!" the detective sat near Narrah's desk turned to greet me.

"Good morning," I turned towards him after seeing Enterlock wasn't at her desk. "Any idea where she's at?"

"Yeah, she's just getting changed into her interrogation get up," he leaned back in his chair.

"Why is that?"

"She knows that the station could theoretically be under surveillance at any time. So, she likes to make sure that the criminals that she uses her quirk on won't be able to identify her in footage or anything. You'd be surprised how much of a difference the little changes she makes when you don't know what to look for!"

"Smart," I leaned my back against the wall to wait for her while the detective turned back to his own workload.

A few minutes later Enterlock turned the corner. "Good morning! Ready for a second round?"

I nodded, pushing off of the wall to follow her to the elevator.

"Again, just keep in mind to only respond to what's said aloud," she hit the button. "And only if you can run with whatever I tell him. The plan is to unnerve him, make him slip wherever possible."

"Got it."

She opened the thin brief case and handed me a file. "Only difference between the other day and now is how I want you to act. Last time we had you practically challenging him, this time I need you to make it seem like he isn't a threat. So, here is this to flip through while we're in there. You need to make it seem like you're reading it, but you still need to pay attention once I bring you in."

We both showed out identification to the guard at the gate and stepped through.

I grabbed the handle, waiting for her to finish straightening her jacket. "Ready?"

"Always," she said, her expression melting away into the blank slate it was last time as I opened the door.

I took my position, leaning ever so slightly back onto the wall instead of standing at attention. Enterlock sat in the cement chair across from the visibly irritated Breaker.

"Hello, Mister Safter." She sat her briefcase on the table and brought out a file of her own, then refastened the case and set it to the floor.

"Breaker."

"Right. So, have you had any changes of heart recently, Mister Safter?"

The room fell silent for nearly two minutes, so I opened up the file, angling my head down so my hood and mask would keep Breaker from realizing I was still watching him.

Another two minutes of silence before I saw Narrah clench her fist, suddenly flooding my mind with their voices.

_Can't pull that turncoat hero type bullshit with me lady. Loyalty might not mean shit to you stuffy ass hero types, but to some of us it does._ -Breaker

_We know you have no interest in being a hero. We do know you're a smart man though, and having a hero testify that you cooperated during our investigation sheds a good light on getting time off. Especially if it's the hero you attacked, turning around and fighting for a time shave. _-Enterlock

Breakers eyes shot to me as soon as she sent the thought to him.

_He wouldn't even if I did give up information._

_You think he wouldn't swallow his pride for the sake of taking dangerous quirk gear off of the market? I'm not sure you've spent enough time around heroes, Mister Safter. He wouldn't think twice._ -She wrote something on the notepad in front of her as she thought it.- _This is the time you would be looking at for your involvement with the Kouman organization, that we can prove. The attack on a hero with lethal intent, that nearly doubles that number. One testimony on your behalf and he could get that part of the charge to disappear completely._

_Shit. -Breaker_

"Well, I think that's all the time we have for you today. We will be in touch Mister Safter, do think about what I said. Maybe next time we can work something out?"

I snapped to attention at the first words actually spoken allowed for the majority of the time we'd been in the room.

She quickly slid her files back into her briefcase and stood. I stepped to the door and knocked twice.

"Good day!" she stepped through, this time I followed without looking back at Breaker.

The soundproof door thumped shut behind us.

"Just make sure we're still the only ones talking to him, okay?" she spoke to the guard while pulling her hair down.

"Will do, ma'am," he nodded at her.

I followed a step behind her until we were in the elevator, where I reopened the file folder she had handed me. It seemed to be filled with completely random pieces of notes and pictures surrounding the case, the first of one being Breakers mugshots. "What is this here?"

I pointed to the picture of him turned to the side and she looked over. "Just some discoloration I think, maybe a scar or something?"

"No, no, I think this is a mark of some sort." The memory from the night he attacked me flashing back into my brain. "There was a guy at the warehouse the night I ran into Breaker, he had a mark on his neck that was almost exactly the same. No way that's a coincidence, right?"

She just sat there staring at the photo for a moment, silent.

"Shit!" the doors opened. "I remember you saying one of the guys had a scar on his neck! How the hell didn't I catch that?"

She snatched the picture from the folder and stepped out, me on her heels. We got to her desk and she threw off her jacket, grabbed a makeup wipe from her bag with one hand and started wiping at her face while she stared at the photo. "Tamaki, I think we just found the biggest piece of info on these guys yet! I'll go change and we'll take it to the captain."

I brought out my phone and dialed Fat Gum as she bolted back to the changing rooms. Not surprisingly, he didn't pick up. He worked the eleven to seven and had probably just gone to bed. I kept the voicemail short and sweet, "We think we found something. Call me or the office when you get this, I'll call them next to tell them what's up."

Under a minute and she zapped back out, "Let's go tell him."

We spent the next half hour hunting down the police captain and explaining what we'd found and getting clearance to go through other mugshots to see if we had anyone else that matched. After that, I headed off to touch base with Leena again.

I got my phone out and called the office phone for anyone on the task force that was there. One of the newer heroes that was there doing paperwork picked up, taking the new information and sending out an alert to the rest of the force from the computer. I thanked him and put my phone away to continue patrols.

-Rhea-

The coffee was cold by the time I finally got around to taking a sip. Even though it was already a reheated cup. Fine, just like an iced coffee, right?

Six heroes are on my roster at all times. The minor heroes needing help with only costume piece replacement when something wore out, a little help furthering their image, and maybe a little help with their banking and keeping access to hero exclusive gyms and such.

Then there were the two pros. One ranked at forty-two and only really coming out to hero often enough to keep his certifications and requesting to keep everything as low key as possible. Then there was Tamaki, our little rank thirteener.

Bless the poor boys heart. His usual schedule consisted of a five to six workout, after downing whatever horrendous food he decided to have power his quirk that day, then working on whatever assignment until three or four, a meal break, back to the gym, another meal break, and about once a week making time to have a meet up with his other hero friends. Since the attack he laid it back a little, but not much.

The effort he put in to staying fit for duty made it a little easier to run _every_ other aspect of his life, but damn if he didn't make it hard sometimes.

Since joining the pro ranks, he blew through four publicists before landing in my lap, none of them up to the task of forcing open the shell he walked around in. Making almost any social interaction nearly as dramatic as forcible removing teeth. My first order of business as his publicist was finding him a top of the line therapist, something many pros seem to ignore, despite the atrocities they get the pleasure of witnessing on a regular basis.

After a few months of going, and grumbling the entire time about it, he began to show some real progress. His face didn't find itself stuck into corners as much, his self-deprecating rantings nearly stopped altogether, and it seemed a little easier to get him to open up. Both with me and with the public. A year and a half ago, getting him to stop for an autograph or a picture would've been next to impossible. Now, he may have a blotch of red across his face while he does it, and maybe only one or two a week, but he gets the damn thing done. Tamaki Amajiki, the countries resident shy guy, had been making leaps and bounds in terms of progress.

Going from rank twenty-two all the way to thirteen in just under two years, a progress rarely seen without nearly city leveling type disasters paving the way for their success. Once you break that top twenty, the climb was usually slow going, but the public did seem to love that blush of his and he despite what he might like to think, he's good at what he does. Lots of people doing my job have to worry about how to brush damages done by their hero under the rug or minimizing them at the very least, and usually a slew of personal scandals, not me though. There were rarely collateral damages on any of Tamakis missions, making that part of the job disappear entirely for me. And so far, only this sudden announcement of a new relationship with a top five hero could qualify as a scandal.

But…. days like today tested my soul. Coordinating with event planners, finalizing transport with Togata's agents, brokering with companies that wanted him wearing this or that of theirs, getting him to sit the fuck still so we could get him ready. All of it just makes for one sack of bricks to the face of a headache.

"Does anyone have the number for the stylist?" I shouted so the rest of the team would hear me through their various phone calls.

Less than a day to go. Bring it on.

-Tamaki-

After giving Eijiro the run through of the day I headed out, still in hero costume, back to the agency. Turns out one of the work study kids nearly blew the top level of the agency clean off the night before, making the closures, that I had completely forgotten about while working, seem more reasonable. With just forty minutes left before Mirio was done with his patrols I decided to just head back to his apartment so I could check out the new place in earnest before he got there.

Walking across town didn't take very long at this time of day, and in uniform people tended to not stop you if you look like you're headed somewhere with a purpose. I hit the button to the side of the door and waited for the beep.

"Sorry, Mister Suneater, but could you take off the mask so the camera can identify your face?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," I took the shield from my eyes and tucked it in my pocket.

The door beeped so I swung it open just as I heard the familiar click of a high-grade camera behind me. Shit. Usually press didn't start becoming a bother for a few more hours. I didn't turn around and instead made a beeline for the lobby desk where the same man sat, in the same spot as yesterday.

"Hello, Mister Suneater. Can I help you?"

"Um, hello, is it Chuck?"

He nodded, extending his hand from behind the desk. "Yessir, Charles or Chuck I suppose."

"Okay." Making a mental note to call him Charles. "So, quick question. Do you happen to know if any heroes besides Lemillion live here?"

"I'm not actually permitted to tell you that, sir. I'm sorry,"

Oof, of course he couldn't. "Right, sorry. Could you tell me anything about if reporters have found out he's staying here yet?"

"Oh, yessir. Mister Togata didn't use a moving company, so they spotted him moving all of his things in. After the first few weeks they seemed to quit crowding the front of the building though."

Great. So, they would know exactly why I was here. So much for any hope at privacy. "Okay, thank you. Is it okay if I go up?"

"Sir, I'm only the door man. I suppose you can go anywhere in the building, assuming you have keys."

"Right…sorry," I turned, walking to the set of elevators. "See you later Charles."

"Um, sir?" I looked back at him. "That's the wrong side for Mister Togatas apartment."

"Oh…thanks!" I'm sure he could see the redness take my face over before I hit the button and stepped inside.

A woman was already in the small lift, staring at her phone while I hit the button for Mirios floor. It only took about two seconds for her arms to fall to her side. She mumbled something about needing to do laundry more often while just staring at me, but thankfully she didn't try to interact further.

"Have a good day," I said, stepping out.

I pulled the key Mirio had set out for me that morning from my pocket. I was about to turn my key in the handle to _my_ boyfriend's apartment. Butterflies entered my stomach and I couldn't help but smile as I opened the door. A small beep sounded above me as I did, making me look up.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be here yet!" I nearly jumped at the sound of his voice from around the corner.

Butterflies gone, "D-Do I need to go?"

He laughed, "Don't be silly! I was just hoping to surprise you is all!"

He turned the corner, uniform pulled half down, showing the tank top he wore beneath it. His smile sent the butterflies back with a vengeance, making my hand go to my stomach. "I know you tend to not eat anything other than quirk snacks when you're focused, so I tried my hand at making you some ikayaki, but it turned out just about as bad as I expected it too!" he rubbed the back of his head, the movement just slightly flexing the muscles in his arm. Jeez.

I dropped my bag in front of the door and stepped towards him, using my hand to angle his chin down so I could kiss him. He returned it, a smile broadening under the kiss.

"Well, I'm not complaining, but you probably won't have this same reaction when you see it." He chuckled, putting a hand on my back.

I shook my head. "I can already smell it. Burnt?"

He nodded. "Practically charcoal." Turning back to the kitchen. "I'm thinking we go out for a quick lunch?"

"Oh, well…" I unclasped my cloak and pulled it from my shoulders.

"What's up?" he popped his head back out, looking at me.

"We may want to leave soon then," I pulled the belt and utility packs off. "Pretty sure I got spotted at the door. Only a matter of time before-"

"They swarm?" he laughed. "Alright, let me get changed and we can head out. Need to borrow clothes?"

"Yeah, because me leaving in clothes that are two sizes too big, clearly yours, would cause less of an uproar than just leaving as Suneater?"

"You leave as Suneater no matter if the costume is on or not, Tamaki." He disappeared into the bedroom, peeling his uniform down as he did. "But okay, you still have your clothes here from yesterday. Want to put those on for now and we can just make sure to each have a stock at the others house after today?"

"Sure," I pulled my undershirt off, spotting my sweater on the floor, still where he had thrown it last night. A fire returned to my cheeks as I pulled it on. "Um, Mirio?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Have you- uh- seen my pants?"

He reappeared in the doorframe, leaning against it, smiling. "I wish I could say I haven't."

He had pulled on a V-neck shirt and dark jeans, feet still bare, that ever-present smile pulled further up one to one side in a mischievous grin, eyes watching me start to pull off the last layer of my uniform.

"Would you stop?" the heat in my face cranking up.

"Not anytime soon," he pulled his arm out from behind the doorframe, tossing me my jeans from the day before. "But for the sake of a peaceful walk, I'll hit the pause button."

We made our way back down to the lobby, waving at Charles before ducking out onto the streets.

Mirio led the way to a kosher hot dog stand just a few blocks away, and stopped to talk with the owner, that he knew by name. We walked around while we ate, talking about his patrols and I told him about being posted at the station, leaving out the parts about Enterlock as to not breach my contract.

"Sounds a little…monotonous." He wadded up the paper pouch the hotdog had come in and tossed in into a recycling receptacle.

"Well, hopefully it'll stay that way." I followed suit. "We're going to keep four of us there at all times up to two weeks from now, then we're dropping it down to two."

"Any idea what the mark is?"

I shook my head, taking a drink of our soda. "No. They seem like the same basic size and shape, but it just looks like a splotch on their skin. We're working on identifying it though. Fat texted earlier, he said he'd switch with Leena so that we could sift though some logs looking for more matches together. Leena is great for high energy jobs, but sifting through pictures would end up in her sleeping."

He chuckled. "Can't say I can fault her!" he sat his arm across my shoulders guiding us to the curb and flagging a taxi. "So, you ready for tomorrow?"

"You mean the event? Rhea has it covered I think, I'm just trying to keep my mind off of it until I can't anymore. Hopefully it won't be as bad as it sounds."

He began to chuckle but cut it off abruptly.

"What?"

He looked over a little sheepishly. "Have you asked Rhea what the event even is?"

"No, she said it was just to hear some speech and schmooze with a few other heroes."

"Oh babe," I opened the door to the cab, letting him slide in first so I wouldn't have to scoot across the seat. He let the driver know where we were going before continuing. "You're joking…right?"

My heart picked up a pace. "No…why?"

He took a deep breath, letting out a light chuckle with his exhale. "You trust me?"

"…. I'm not super sure right at the moment."

He certainly found this funnier than I did, but smoothed the laughter from his face and squared his shoulders, still smiling though. "Tomorrow I'll come pick you up and we will go on a super fancy date, that we will see some colleagues at. Let's leave it at that, okay? Trust me!"

I sat in silence, watching the city move by us outside the window. "Fine, but I'm going to fret about it…probably all night."

"I bet I could distract you," he jutted his shoulder into mine for a second before leaning back into his seat. "It'll be fine, I promise."

"…Okay."

Once we got to my apartment, I fed Poucchi, letting Mirio go put the things he'd brought from his place away.

"Hey Poucchi girl," I scratched her head before walking to the kitchen and grabbing a few of each kind of dried quirk snack I had, putting them in my bag.

"Really? You start with the snacks?" he was leaned against the wall, grinning.

"What? Not all of us can just activate willy nilly," I tried walking by him to go gather some clothes, only to have his arm wrap around my waist.

"Hey, I'm just messing!" he planted a kiss on my head. "I just think you're cute when you're a little flustered, that's all."

"Well that's always, whenever you're around," I felt heat rising.

"Oh, I fluster you?" he pulled me further into his arms.

"Hmm, because you hadn't figured that out?" a chuckle left me this time.

"I just like hearing you say it," a hand snuck up to my chin, bringing it up for a kiss, before releasing me again.

He trailed behind me while I walked room to room, throwing different clothes, one of my spare uniforms, and my spare charger into my bag, he was talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

"Hey, care if we stop by the store? I don't have any spare toothbrushes or anything,"

"Of course!" his phone rang, pulling it from his pocket he maneuvered around me. "Hey, meet me outside when you're done, I gotta to take this."

He stepped out the door, leaving me to turn all of the lights out, except one in the kitchen for Poucchi's sake, and lock the door behind me. My bag was over filled so I had a couple shirts folded and hanging over my arm. Deedra was sitting out in her sun chair, petting the large white cat in her lap.

"Hey, Deedra?" I took a few steps towards her.

"Mhmmm?"

"Is there any way I could get you to keep an eye on Poucchi again for me? Just for tomorrow, there's a thing I have to go do,"

"Patrols tonight?" she asked, prying one green, slit eye open before sitting up, smiling. "Oh, I guess not!"

The older woman didn't say it in a way that embarrassed me the way most people would have. "No, staying over at Mirios."

"I'm so glad, sweetie!" she stood, scooting the puff of cat gently to the ground, and threw her arms around me. "It's so nice to see you getting out there! It just took a scary experience to put a flame under your butt! Of course, I'll keep an eye on little Poucchi, and the house."

I chuckled, her greyed cat ears tickling my nose while she hugged me. "Thanks, Deedra. I really appreciate you."

She released me from the hug and gently sat back in her chair, waving off my comment. "No thanks dearest. You just have fun, what I wouldn't give to be your age again!"

Her eyes shut just as her puffy companion jumped back into her lap.

"Yes ma'am!" Mirio bounded up from behind me. "Have a good night, Deeds! Enjoy the rest of your sun bath!"

She waved again, half-heartedly, as we walked away.

"Everything okay?" I motioned to his phone.

"Oh yeah, just a creepy fan package that got past my publicists office and showed up to the building. They got it handled for me though. You ready to go?"

I nodded, pacing my steps to his as we walked to the busier part of the block to grab a taxi to shuttle us off to the store. We walked in, grabbing a cart.

"We should get some food too. I've been going out WAY too much!" Mirio lead the way down each isle, babbling about why we needed this or that. I just agreed to everything he said, just enjoying the sound of 'we need' coming from his mouth so enthusiastically. "Why don't you go grab whatever shampoo and stuff you need, I'll grab some stuff I need and meet you by the checkout. Sound good?"

I walked down the toiletry aisle, grabbing the first thing that looked close to what was in my bathroom at home. When I got to the register Mirio was already half way done setting our ridiculous amount of stuff on the belt, chattering with the cashier as she rang us up.

My throat clenched when I saw her grab the gigantic box of condoms, he'd apparently went to go grab without me, neither of them seeming to notice the incredibly embarrassing moment happening…. involving all three of us. Just continued chatting like it was nothing. Extroverts are an alien species, I swear.

He grabbed our bags so I grabbed the cart, pushing it to the receptacle, face still fire engine red. "Really need that big of a box?"

His look was puzzled for just a second before my expression made it click, pushing a laugh from him. "Better too many than not enough! I thought she'd be further along in the process before you got back up there, sorry! I tried to save you the embarrassment!" he put an arm around me again. "Let's head back!"

And so, we did.

I got to the door of the apartment first, again hearing a soft beep as I opened the door. "What is that?"

"Oh, its just a security system. Every apartment in the building has them, I never actually set it, but there isn't a way to turn the beep off," he shrugged, moving past me to the kitchen. "I'll start unpacking the groceries, you go unpack your bag! I cleared a spot in the closet out already, and there's also a drawer for you in the bathroom connected to the bedroom!"

"There's a bathroom attached to the bedroom?"

"Yeah, what'd you think that door was to?" he laughed, pulling stuff out of bags and tossing them to the counter.

"Uh, the closet?"

"Oh, well, that's in there too! The shower in the one out here is better pressure though, just a heads up. That one has a bath though, if you want one,"

I sat my bag down on the bed, officially out of his sight I set my back to the wall. I was putting some of my things in Mirios house. Mirio, number three hero in the country, the only person in the world capable of lighting a room just by entering (without a quirk doing it for him), the Greek pantheon worthy Mirio, the person who convinced me that being a hero wasn't only possible for me, but that he thought I'd be one of the best. The only person who has accepted me for who I am, at every stage of my life. My Mirio. The Sun itself.

Breathe, Tamaki.

"Hey, what's wrong with my toothpaste?" he called from the kitchen, apparently discovering that I'd snuck a new one into the shopping while he wasn't paying attention.

I couldn't help but laugh, sliding back up the wall, to my feet. "I think I moved past bubblegum a couple decades ago."

"I have mint too!"

"No, you don't!"

He popped his head into the bedroom, not expecting me to be right there. "Have you been in our bathroom yet?"

I just looked at him, silent. Our?

"Because its there! Bubblegum is just for when I need to break up the monotony, ya know?"

"We're heroes, don't you think a little boringness might be refreshing?"

He smiled and pecked me on the lips. "Never!"

Mirio skipped back over to finish his task while I got to work on mine, opening the dark, heavy door to indeed find a nearly all black and grey bathroom with a large walk in closet, lined with mirrors off to the side. Jeez. It was hard to imagine Mirio even standing in the modern looking, monochromatic room.

I hung my clothes up in the closet, not taking up even a fourth of the room Mirio had made for me in the closet that was nearly the size of the bedroom at my own apartment.

"Mirio?" I walked out into the kitchen. "How did you even end up with this apartment?"

He shrugged. "I needed a new place and just let my publicist pick it out. My last lease expired while I was on that military case earlier this year, so I was too busy to apartment hunt."

Made more sense. "It's _really_ nice! Why have you been staying at my place at all?"

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow up at me. "You think I care about where we stay? We could stay in a broom closet at our agencies and I'd be happy!"

I grabbed the toiletries from the counter, walking towards the bathroom. "No thanks, no more staying in closets for me."

He laughed even though it hadn't really been a joke. "You know that's not what I meant!"

I started putting things away, "I know, just messing."

"Need help?" he popped into the bathroom from behind me.

"Nah…" I stood there, staring at the toothbrush holder now holding a toothbrush on either side. "This is kind of surreal… isn't it?"

"I think it's fantastic," she slipped his arms under mine, hugging me from behind, looking at us in the mirror while he kissed my neck.

"I mean, that too," I grabbed his forearms, holding us in the embrace. Not that he was trying to pull back, his eyes still locked onto our reflections, I could feel my face heating. "What?"

He shook his head, finally bring his eyes to the real me and planting a kiss. "Let's be lazy today. Sweats and sweets for a night before all the glitz and such."

"Sounds good to me, but first you have to actually show me the apartment. Your tour skills are lacking."

...

-Mirio-

He fell asleep, lounged back on the couch while we watched some weird show, about a pervy late quirk bloomer, he said he liked on TV. For such a timid guy he sure read and watched some wild stuff.

His face was tilted to the side, one arm over his ribs and the other above his head, pulling his shirt up just enough to show some of the pale skin of his stomach.

What a thrill! Tamaki, sleeping so comfortably on _my_ couch. And with the band of his sweats pulled down just enough that it seemed he was doing so with no underwear, a thin, dark happy trail disappearing under the fabric. I felt my own pants tighten as I looked at him there, but ignored it, pushing the oversized ottoman to meet with the edge of the couch. Usually the nightmares started to kick in after about an hour of sleep, and it took me about thirty minutes to slip from under him without waking him up. So, any time now he would start thrashing, and I'd be there to hold him through it.

….

-Tamaki-

"Holy shit, I think I found one!" Fat Gum rang out across the huge conference table we were sitting at. "Come here, what do you think?"

I walked to his side, grabbing the mugshot of a woman from four years ago, shaking my head. "Look, the shape isn't right. I think that's like…a skin graft or something?"

He flipped up a page from the file. "Oof, yeah. Skin graft."

He sighed, leaning back, making the chair groan under his massive frame.

"Yeah, so much for a breakthrough, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" he heaved himself back up. "We…well, you, have found three more just in these files! Imagine what kind of network they're getting out there with the computers!"

"Yeah, have you heard back from the analysts about what it might be though?"

"No, not a word from 'em yet. If I haven't heard by tomorrow night, I'll stop by there and see what's happening on their end," he raised his arms above his head, popping his shoulders. "Anyways, lets take a break, my eyes are starting to water looking at all this!"

I stepped out of the door, him behind me, and started walking to the little break room where he had hauled in a huge supply of snacks for himself and everyone else in the station.

"So," he leaned back against the counter once we got there. "Heard you're headed to the awards with Lemillion tonight?"

I nodded, stretching out my arms and legs. "Yeah, publicist says we need to make an 'official' appearance."

"Well, the Ultras are certainly the place to do it. Hope you have fun!" he unwrapped a chocolate coated granola bar.

"Nah, the Ultras are next month. This is just for a couple speeches or something. A fluff event, or whatever,"

He scoffed. "Kid, the Ultras were moved forward a month to avoid competing for air time with some other kind of award thingy. They announced that like four months ago? You're in the top twenty, no way you didn't get that email."

I felt the blood leave my body. No, they wouldn't drop the Ultras on me like that. Rhea was cruel, but never that cruel. "You're joking…right?"

"Nope, serious as the grave!" he chuckled. "You should keep up a little better, the lead up to them has been trending for like three days already…maybe more!"

"I still don't have social media, I don't even check my email! My publicist does that!" Breathe. "No. No, I can't go to the Ultras."

"Well, you could take one out of my book. I quit getting invites after I accepted and never showed up to any of the events. Midnight isn't hosting, right?" a shiver went through him. "Don't ditch on an event she's hosting unless you have _no_ other choice."

"Fat… I can't go to the Ultras." I sat hard in one of the chairs. "I-I'm… I cant! I-"

"Whoa, dude. Breathe," he put his hands up. "I sort of assumed you wouldn't be at full capacity today once I heard, the rest of your watch is covered."

"What?"

"Go home, take a bath or meditate or whatever it is that zens you out. Then haul yourself to that award show so the rest of us don't have to!" he laughed, hauling me to my feet.

"I'm not going to the Ultras!"

"You are, so try to make the best of it!"

I just stood there, waiting for the ice to leave my extremities.

"Hm…Tamaki?" I looked at him. "Go!"

I wasn't going to argue about leaving early, but my brain still hadn't processed the night that apparently lay before me. My phone was suddenly in my hand, dialing Mirio.

"Hey there, babe,"

"The ULTRAS?" it screeched out of my mouth, into the phone. "Why'd you ask me why we needed suits if you knew it was the bloody Ultras?!"

"Whoa, killer. Because the Ultras were two days away, I already had a suit lined up for them. I assumed you were talking about something else, until Rhea said something about it being that Friday. Today." He chuckled. "I'm sorry babe, I should've told you. But Rhea said to keep my trap shut until we were in the car. So, I agreed to not say anything until we were nearly there."

"Did she quirk up on you?"

"Uh, I don't think so?"

I groaned, impossible to tell if it was her Charm or his carefreeness to blame. "I don't want to say hate…. but I hate you guys right now."

"Hey, don't say that to me!" he sounded legitimately snappy about it, before returning to his light hearted tone again. "And! I was going to politely ask you to come anyway. You're telling me you would've turned me down?"

"…. There's a real possibility."

"Jeez, landing daggers to the heart today, aren't you?" he laughed, then lowered his voice a touch. "Would you still be mad if I promised to make it up to you after the show?"

I thought it over, pulling open the door of the police station and walking out. "Depends…."

"On?"

"…how good you look in your suit," dumb, we both knew exactly how good he'd look. Fucking perfect, that's how good.

He 'whooped' on the other end of the line, someone in the background laughing at his antics. "So, I'll see you outside your place at six thirty, right?"

A sigh was all I could muster.

"Perfect, see you then!" his giddiness brought a smile to my face despite my rising nausea, he ended the call.

Rhea.

The line rang once, then went to voicemail. "Rhea, call me back."

-Rhea. R U kidding me? Call me back ASAP-

An immediate Chirp back. -Ok, love!-

Damn her…. Fine.

-If I'm going I need a cut too, not just style. Where should I go?-

Within seconds my phone was ringing. "You mean it?"

"Why didn't you tell me it was the Ultras?"

She groaned. "Because you and I both know that me asking you to go wouldn't get us anywhere. But a handsome, suit clad, Lemillion? Mm, we both know you couldn't resist that."

Heat started rising to my face. She wasn't wrong.

"Were you being serious though? About the hair? Because we can be at your house in twenty minutes, maybe fifteen." I could here her fingers snapping in the background, proof she was ushering someone somewhere.

"I was… but only a TINY bit of length taken off or so help me I won't go to another event for a year!"

"That's a deal!" she squealed in my ear. "I'll see you in twenty minutes!"

-Rhea-

Everything was coming together. The stylist, makeup artist, the boxes and boxes of possible accessories, Togata's agent keeping me updated on their end, and then, ever her little hero agreed to sit, bear it, and face his fears. Her heart swelled as the car pulled into the drab lot of Tamaki's apartments, his sweet cat neighbor waving at the team as they walked up the short stone path to Tamakis door.

I swung it open, hearing the shower running.

"Okay people, get set up before he can get out here and grump at us!" they listened, immediately going to work, setting everything up to get him ready.

When he finally came out from the bathroom it was four fifteen. "What is that?"

He was looking at the travel vanity the make up artist had set up, slightly wide eyed. "Don't panic, it's just a bit of powder so you when you sweat buckets the cameras won't notice."

"I didn't agree to all that."

Men, forever difficult. "Okay, but when you look like a polio patient next to Mirio in the tabloids, I don't want you to come running to me!"

He shifted his weight, turning his head away from me. "I can't even express how much I hate this…"

My heart did feel for him. "I know… but this one event I'm thinking will get you out there enough to buy you a few months peace. That's worth it, right?"

He didn't say anything, just looked at me with his dark eyes. Sending a quick thanks to whatever force decided to make him a hero instead of a villain, I turned to his transformed living room. "So! Let's start with that haircut, shall we?"

I managed to talk him into getting an entire inch cut off (the most drastic hair change he's had since entering the pros), then thinning and styling. While he was sitting for that I grabbed his hands, calloused and little rough, but luckily his nails didn't have anything cracked, broken, or caked in dirt and grim under them. Good. A few months ago, I convinced him to start using a moisturizer, hand lotion might still be a ways off though.

"Do you want me to shave him?" the hairdresser looked over at me.

"I am _right_ here," he huffed it, barely loud enough for us to hear.

I looked at his face, grabbing his chin and moving it from side to side. "You know what… don't. Makes him look a little older with the five o'clock shadow look going on, maybe even it up though, shape it a bit?"

I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I motioned to one of my assistants, "Help him pick out shoes, will you? There in the boxes to the left, I need to take this!"

-Tamaki-

Rhea walked out of the apartment, phone in hand. Leaving the rest of her team working in near total silence.

"Mister Amajiki?" the petite lady had lined up four different pairs of shoes, that all looked basically the same. "Which would you like?"

"Uh, whatever you think?" she nodded, plucking a box from the row and stacking the rest up to the side, where a stack of other plain white boxes had appeared while I was showering.

The guy doing my hair grabbed a little container from his bag, opening it and rubbing the product into his hands before putting them in my hair. My face just stayed an impressive shade of red the entire time they all worked.

"Which of these would you like?" this time she held up two silver watches.

"I-I don't know…" I swallowed; her eyes just plastered to me. "Uh, the one with the blank face?"

She nodded, setting it to the side and going back to her box moving.

How much am I paying these people to torture me?

My publicist came back in the door, blankly staring at her phone while the door swung shut behind her. Prior to that moment I wasn't sure I could stiffen further, I was mistaken.

"Rhea, are you okay?"

Her head snapped to me; fake smile plastered on just a second too late. "Yes! Of course! How are we doing in here?" she checked over the selections that had been made, nodding. "Great, great job guys. I need to go to the car to print something off, I'll be right back."

"You're going to the car…to print something?" I winced as the guy plucked a hair from my eyebrow.

She chuckled. "Welcome to this decade, Tamaki, portable printers are a must for people in my line of work. Not everything should be kept in the notes section of your phone." And was out the door again.

"Sir?" the woman had two fragrance bottles in her hand.

"Jeez, I don't know, just pick one- OUCH!" he plucked another hair.

Twenty minutes later they set down their tools and looked at me.

"Done!" the stylist said it triumphantly, like he had climbed Everest, while the other two started packing their things up.

Rhea came back in then, holding an envelope, still with a blank expression.

I finally was able to stand from the chair they'd had me in. "What's going on? Are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course, quit worrying." A smile again plastered across her face, "Now go get that tux on!"

* * *

A/N: Let me know what you think with a review!


	6. Ultras

A/N: This chapter and the one after will contain possibly upsetting themes for some readers, especially those of the LGBTQ+ community. Hold on, we'll get through it! Hope you enjoy aside from that!

* * *

"Could you help me with this freaking button?" I had put on everything but the jacket, because I couldn't quite get the button of my dress shirts sleeve done, walking out of the bathroom to get help from one of the various people that had made camp in my living room.

There, just inside the door, was Mirio. His broad chest and shoulder fitting snugly in his black suit jacket, under it he had opted for just the dress shirt and bow tie around his neck, while I currently had on the shirt, vest and tie to my suit. His hair was spiked in the front in usual Lemillion fashion and had a watch similar to mine on his wrist. Guess our teams had worked together to make us look like a pair without matching too closely. He had been on magazine covers before, and not a single one held a candle to how he looked in the poorly lit apartment.

"Wow, you look… absolutely incredible!" he beamed his fantastic smile at me, immediately sending knots through my stomach and heat to my face.

"You're early," I couldn't stop the butterflies from making my nausea feel even worse. "And I have never felt more ridiculous in my life."

Two strides brought him over to me, grabbing my sleeve to do the button. "I promise, nobody looking at you tonight will have anything but 'stunning' enter their brain."

"And by that he means, nobody will be looking at you so don't panic!" Rhea called from behind him, voice sounding weirdly flat, despite her smile.

"You cut your hair!" he was still grinning while Rhea pushed around him, coming to straighten out my clothes to her standards.

"Yeah, a bit," I slid the jacket over my shoulders, Rhea reaching to do the buttons for me.

"So, we're ditching the bulky wallet and opting for a clip for the night, okay?" she pulled out a small bundle of cards, held together by a sleek sliver clip, and put it, along with the envelope she had been holding into the inside pocket of my jacket, smoothing it back down. "You have your hero identification, credit card, regular ID, and a bit of cash in there."

She got her face a little closer to my ear, quietly saying, "That envelope is not to be opened until you've at least sat at the table for the awards, am I clear?"

I nodded, suddenly the envelope felt heavy in my pocket. I wasn't going to have to announce something, right? Of all her sadistic tricks, she surely wouldn't pull that without prepping me for a public speech. That I could be sure of, but what the hell was it then?

"Are you ready?" Mirio piped back up, the question made the painful knot in my stomach twist again. My body reminding me of how badly it didn't want us to go.

"As I think I'll ever be,"

"We will lock up behind ourselves here," Rhea assured. "You two have fun, breathe. Mirio, give him a run-down of the award process?"

"You got it," he stepped to the door, pulling it open, and smiling back at me. "Come on, babe."

As I stepped outside, I noticed the sun was already starting to set in the sky, making a rainbow of red and purples push out the blue.

"It's almost like I get to take you to prom," his left hand sat on my waist, right motioning to the limo parked at the street.

A sign escaped me. "Embarrassing myself in front of a bunch of high schoolers suddenly seems preferable."

He paused with his hand on the car door. "Get that out of your head." He opened it and motioned me inside. "We aren't on our way to embarrass ourselves." He sat next to me, tapping twice on the ceiling, and the limo began moving. "I am on the way to accept an award on behalf of my agency, and you're on your way to have the best date ever with your boyfriend. Right?"

His smile replaced the unpleasant knots in my stomach with milder, warm ones. I tried to nod as assuringly as I could.

"Fantastic!" he leaned over slowly, pulling me into a kiss.

He pushed off of the seat, still holding onto my face, and moved to crouch between my legs as he slid his tongue into my mouth. The nausea fell away, leaving just the heat of him. My breath caught as his one hand traveled down my back, pulling me into him.

"M-Mirio," I spoke between his lips pressing to mine. "Mirio!"

"Hm?" he moved to my jaw, allowing me to more easily speak.

"Y-You need…" I cleared my throat. "I need you to stop."

"The driver can't see through the barrier," his teeth grazed the skin at my neck.

"Mirio!" I pulled my neck away. "Youre going to, ya know…"

He pulled away, chuckling. "What? You don't want to give them a show when we get there?"

I shook my head, and looked up, trying to keep from stirring myself anymore than he already had.

"Fine, but you can expect me to pick this back up later, okay?"

I nodded. "Yep."

He sighed, sitting back on the seat and half crossing his legs, confirming he had also been getting too excited, considering where we were headed. "So! As per required of me, here's how it's going to go. We will pull up to the ropes, someone will open the door to the car, we get out, we pose for a few pictures and maybe answer a few questions. I can do that part if you want though,"

I nodded again, looking back down to his face while he continued. "Then when we get to the doors of the building one of the event coordinators will show us where we're supposed to sit. We'll be up at the tables since I'll be getting on stage eventually. And at a few different points cameras will be wheeled around, just don't pay attention to them. Once I accept the award I'll have to stay backstage until the final one is handed out. After final camera cuts off the media will head out and us heroes get to have a little party. Some people from the agencies and such will stick around too, but it's usually a pretty good time. Want me to just come meet you back at the table so we don't have to run around looking for each other?"

"Sure," I kept focusing on my breathing. "So how far into the show is your award presented?"

"I was patrolling during the rehearsal run through, so I'm not exactly sure. Deku told me it's pretty early on, but there will be at least one other set of heroes at the table, so you won't have to be in front of cameras alone at all. I promise! Though, I also have this," he pulled a silver flask from his jacket. "I know the publicists don't think drinking for public appearances is a good idea, but I thought just a little might take the edge off."

I grabbed the flask, flicking it open, and took two long drags from it, the liquid burning all of the way down my throat. "Shit, what is that?"

He laughed, taking back the flask, "Whiskey, and a lot of it by the feel of it!" he shook the flask before returning it to his jacket.

"None for you?"

He shook his head. "I don't have crowd anxiety, babe. And I don't need anything making me want to jump your bones any more than I already do!"

The limo began so slow, looking out I could already see the line of shiny black cars ahead of us, and the flashing of cameras on the building coming into view.

"Though, speaking of, come here," he turned my head and started running his fingers through my hair. "We messed it up a bit." He sat back again, eyes on the top of my head. "I think I like it better like this!"

The limo kept creeping forward, I could hear the sounds of a crowd now. "Can you kiss me again, please?"

He chuckled, placing his lips lightly on mine. "Thanks, I just… Trying to not focus on all the people."

"It would be my genuine pleasure to keep your mind off them as much as possible!" he smiled at me. "Ready?" he must have noticed we had once again stopped before I did, because at that moment the car door opened, and the insane roar of noise assaulted my ears.

Lemillion emerged from the limousine, pulling the front of his jacket down as he stood. The big, bright man beamed at the cameras before side stepping so Suneater could join him on the strip. Here they are. The couple that every reporter was there to get a photo of.

They both had very different styles that seemed to work off of each other. Lemillions presence overtook any room he entered, while Suneater could somehow blend into any crowd, despite his striking looks, a real chameleon. But not tonight. The tall blonde hair on Lemillions head made him seem much taller than Suneater, despite their only two inch or so height difference. Suneaters hair had a tousled look to it, sweeping across his face and framing his dark eyes, his pointed ears poking through. Where Lemillion was unbridled energy, Suneater was pure intensity in almost every photo and interview he'd ever had. But it seemed different as they stood next to each other. Their pairs togetherness just forced the crowd to pay attention.

Suneater had a thumb hooked in his front pocket as soon as he stood, and the other hand immediately went to the other hero's lower back. The crowd of reporters lost it.

…

-Mirio-

Generally, whenever a top ten hero arrives at one of these events the reception is pretty big. But nothing I'd ever been to could match the uproar we got at Tamaki sliding his hand to my back.

I knew I was grinning like an idiot, but who wouldn't be?

I put my arm around his shoulder, no easy task with the fitted jacket pulling at my own shoulders, and started to walk down the carpet they'd laid out. "Hey there!"

Every once and awhile there would be coordinators appearing in the crowd, motioning for us to stop for the photographers to snap pictures of us in certain spots. As we stepped to the first one, they pounced.

"Is there any truth to the rumor that you're already living together?"

"How long had you been dating before Lemillion let it slip?"

"Will you be working together more frequently now?"

"Who was interested first?"

"Can we expect an official interview with the both of you?"

I didn't need to see his face to know it would be turning red from both the alcohol he he'd had a few minutes ago and their onslaught. I moved my arm down off of his shoulder tops, to be across his shoulder blades and squeezed him closer to me, the flash of their cameras nearly blinding us.

"Hey there!" I waved again, finding one person and meeting their eyes. "Hi, what was your question?"

"Hello, thank you, how long have you two been close?"

"How long have we been close? About fifteen years!" I laughed, feeling old after saying it aloud. "But we have only been together officially a couple weeks."

The coordinator waved her hand at us, allowing us to move on. He was stiffer than a board as we stepped away from the first round. So, I tucked my head closer to his ear, letting him lead us. "Breathe, Tamaki. We've got this. Just breathe."

Whispering to him didn't do anything to calm the ruckus around us, but I did feel his shoulders rise and fall with a breath.

"This is insane," he looked up at me as we stepped to the next queue spot.

"They're just excited to get a piece of you," I laughed when his face turned red and turned away from me, right at the cameras. "You never come to these things."

"I wouldn't have had you as a buffer before this…" he mumbled it, trying to smile for the cameras he had accidently faced head on.

"You would've…if you'd asked," I raised my eyebrow, tilting my head so he'd meet my eyes again.

A smile flashed across his face for a brief second, before they started again.

"What mission were you on that took you away for so long?"

"Has there been any pressure; being the first…."

"When did _,"

"Why _,"

The barrage of questions all merged together, I singled another one out.

"Hi!" The reporter cut me off before I could get any more out.

"Suneater, this is our first time getting to see into your romantic life. Any particular reason you agreed to go public with your relationship with Lemillion?"

I felt him stiffen just a touch before he opened his mouth, responding with a smoother statement than I'd ever heard him give to member of the press outside of directly mission related questions.

"Well, there hasn't been much to tell. This being my first serious relationship since joining the prohero ranks. Everything before this I knew wasn't right. Having the friendship that I do with Lemillion, he is constant. So, the decision to go public, while not discussed before it happened, wouldn't have been a hard one."

Who is this person? I couldn't help but laugh at the color rising to my cheeks. I kissed him before I could stop myself. The cameras went wild. The stupid smile on my face just wouldn't go away, even kissing him.

I pulled back and cleared my throat. "I think that's enough questions guys! Thank you, we'll see you inside!"

He seemed a little shocked when I grabbed his hand and pulled him past the people ahead of us, and into the building. He mumbled apologies to nearly everyone we passed. My adrenaline was pumping. Tamaki Amajiki, king of the official comments!

I burst through the door, still smiling like an idiot. "Mirio, I don't think they're going to be super happy we just marched right past them all…."

My laugh made the uniformed hero in front of us jump. "Are you joking? You just said more to them in one comment than they'll get out of anyone else all night. Our job there is done!"

His faced flushed again, bringing more color to his pale cheeks. "Did I mess it up?"

"Not even a little," I pulled him over to the group of coordinators waiting to help guests to their either their seats in the stands or to their tables. "Hey, Suneater and Lemillion?"

"Follow me," a super tall, thin man with blueish skin stepped out to help us.

"Thanks!" I looked behind me at Tamaki, whose eyes were plastered to the ceiling, so I stopped. "You've never been here, have you?"

He shook his head.

"Excuse me!" I called ahead to our coordinator. "Hey, how long do we have before cameras roll?"

He looked at his watch. "Slightly less than thirty minutes."

"Could you do me a huge favor? He's never been here before. All you guys pretty much know the entire joint, top to bottom, yeah?"

"Yes," his brows furrowed as I got closer to him so Tamaki wouldn't hear me.

"Do you know where Suneaters painting is?"

He nodded, turning on his heel. "Of course, follow me."

"Where are we going?" Tamaki could barely be heard, even by me, over the crowds of heroes, publicists, coordinators, and TV executives milling through the lobby.

"You'll see!"

Our coordinator easily made his way through the crowded hall, down a hallway, and brought us into a conference room of sorts. Most of the walls and ceilings in the entire building had murals depicting different people or events, and they began giving anyone graduating top ten of their class and continuing on into the pros a bit bigger of a piece. They were changing all the time, only a few sections in the entire place were sealed and considered final.

At the beginning of the year I had gotten a notice that our class' pieces were completed but I stopped in to see it at the first event thrown that season. Now Tamaki, who had been raising through the ranks incredibly fast this past year, had a bigger piece than he had even those few months ago. His Chimera Kraken covered part of his face, leaving only one eye peering out from the mask it created (not how the mask actually manifested, but it did look cool), the armored limbs were painted in a way that made it look like they were nearly grabbing you. His cloak looked to be caught by the wind, his legs were muscled and lean looking in the stance he was taking.

"Holy shit," I put my arm around him again.

"Yeah…. holy shit…" his eyes stayed on the illustration of himself.

"See, I'm not the only one that thinks you're awesome," I saw the coordinator smile at my comment.

Tamaki chuckled, and turned to smile at me. "This is really cool, thank you for showing me, Mirio," he turned his head. "And thank you as well…."

He paused waiting for the coordinators name, but the tall man missed the cue. "My pleasure sir. But we should get you two seated now, fifteen minutes left and the lobby will only get more chaotic in the next few minutes."

"Oh, yeah. Where's yours?" he asked, turning to follow the coordinator out of the conference room.

"It's somewhere by the balcony now, I think," I rushed around to pull the door open before either reached it. "It's moved a couple times."

"Show it to me after the awards," usually he would have phrased it as a question, but the roughly two shots of whiskey seemed to still be boosting his assertiveness. As he came out of the door he grabbed my hand. "Thanks, again."

"You agreeing to be here is thanks enough," I let the door close as we followed the tall man back down the hallway.

"Did I agree, though?" he side eyed me, smiling.

"Close enough!" my cheeks had a certain pulling sensation at being stretched into a smile for so long.

We walked as closely behind our guide as possible through the crowded lobby. I kept pointing out different stuff as we passed by, promising to bring him back for closer looks once all the cameras had left the building. Once we entered through the large opened doors of the hall, I had my eyes glued to the stage, where a video was playing slides and clips of different heroics from the past year on the screen but kept talking to Tamaki. Keeping his attention hopefully on me instead of the cameramen already positioning themselves around the room.

Our guide stopped and motioned to a table, we sat, my eyes still on the slide. "Oh! Tamaki, watch!"

He didn't respond, so I turned to look at him. He was sat in his chair, hands in his lap, eyes just staring at the white table in front of him. "Tamaki?"

His eyes shifted to me, head not moving. "I'm fine, just…" he swallowed. "Where's that flask?"

What? I pulled it from my jacket, handing it to him. "You okay?"

He nodded, pouring its contents into the glass in front of him. "Fine,"

Nope. Not fine. "Tamaki, what's wrong."

His posture had changed, back to the clearly uncomfortable one he usually took in front of crowds, just staring at the table. "Is it the people? Because there are lots of heroes here. They probably wont even cut to you until I'm on stage. I could try to talk to the camera guy to stay off of you?"

The lights in the hall dimmed.

"No, just…. Just sit. It's about to start." 

-Tamaki-

Concern flashed across his face, but eventually he let his curiosity get the better of him, eyes returning to the clips of heroes being shown on the huge screen.

He didn't notice the placement cards in front of the other seats.

That's for the best, him not noticing, even as the two other bodies sat at the table with us.

Don't look over Mirio. Just stay focused ahead. Please, just focus on ahead.

Another figure appeared between the two of us. "Excuse me, Lemillion? Mister All Might is yet to arrive and cameras roll in two minutes. Could you present the first award? We will have to rearrange things a bit for the rest of the ceremony if he doesn't get here on time."

His eyes shot to me, an apology more so than a question in them.

"Go."

He pecked me on the lips and crouched as he bolted away with the coordinator that had appeared.

A heat was rising to my face, different than the pleasant one that so frequently found itself there due to Mirio.

Fuck.

…..

The lights of the hall dimmed further and the cameramen around the room held up three fingers, two fingers, one, then all ducked down behind their gear as the lights on the stage brightened. Illuminating the large from of Lemillion.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the eighth annual Ultra Awards! I am NOT your host, but I am Mirio Togata, your friendly neighborhood Lemillion!" he paused for the laugh that rang from the crowd. "All Might has been temporarily delayed by matters _just_ _barely_ more important than being here to look good and babysit the lot of us!"

He took all of the correct pauses as the crowd laughed or applauded. "I'd like to thank the hundreds of heroes packed in here in this hall, those stationed outside, as if anyone would be dumb enough to try crashing this event, and those out there still patrolling the streets and keeping us all safe. And a huge thanks to those of you tuned in tonight!" he led the applause this time. "And now, due to my own lack of improv ability and the fact that all of the prepared jokes only make sense coming from All Might, lets get this party started!"

The lights dimmed back out as he walked off stage, a prerecorded voice coming over the hall, introducing the first round of awards.

…..

-Tamaki-

Nearly thirty minutes went by, Mirio flawlessly making his way through hosting an event that wasn't his to host, before I really started to feel eyes on me. Sure, cameras had been made rounds near the table multiple times, but their presence was dwarfed by the reflections of light in glass lenses I kept catching from my peripheral vision.

I took another drink of the dark liquid in my glass.

The lights brightened on stage once again, time for another introduction. This time Mirio stood next to the small, yellow clad All Might. Applause ripped through the hall, whoops and whistles as the heroes saw the man that had inspired nearly our entire generation or heroes. Miro applauded with us, shaking his hand before side stepping, passing the reigns of hosting to him before disappearing back stage again.

"I am so sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen!" his voice still deeper than could be expected from his small frame as he stepped up to the podium that had been pulled to the stage for him to lean into. "I cannot tell you how excited I am to once again be hosting this wonderful event, with the help of the ever fantastic Lemillion. Round of applause for him, stepping up to the task so last minute,"

Not a soul in the room didn't listen to him, immediately breaking into an applause as the screen behind him cut to Mirio, smiling of course, backstage.

"As many of you know, I took a position as a teacher at UA many years ago. This was because I knew the students beginning their journey into heroism that year were an exceptional bunch. Those students are almost all here tonight, ten of them sitting in the ranks of top twenty heroes here in Japan. One of which is receiving this next award. He is the friendly face of our country, our symbol of piece, the inheritor of my number one hero position, and my student, even today. More than that though, he has become my friend, my family, and most of all, my hero. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this years Plus Ultra award to our Deku, for his continued sacrifice of safety and self for our country. Would you please come to the stage, young Midoria?"

I took another drink from the glass. The Plus Ultra award is always given just before the short intermission, meaning I could probably go find Mirio backstage and hide out there with him until the show ended.

Deku was making his acceptance speech, after hugging the smaller former symbol of peace, when I closed my eyes. No reason for cameras to be on me during this part of the show, so focusing on breathing, and actually being calm instead of just appearing it for the cameras became the priority. The heat in my belly, from the whiskey, made it easier to tune out my surroundings. The feeling of eyes, the sounds of the people, my own still pounding heart. Until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Amajiki…" I pulled my shoulder away, hopes that Mirio had come back out early dashed. "Amajiki, could we please step out for a discussion? If we do now we wont get caught in the crowd…. Please?"

His voice was the same calm, calculated, caring, and infuriating tone it always is. Making the lump in my throat grow.

"No, thank you." I took another drink, setting the glass on the table with as much care as my shaking hands could manage.

He was silent for a moment, hand still in the air where my shoulder had been.

"Amajiki, I promised myself I'd have a real conversation with you today. If that means we need to have it here that's fine. But I'm guessing that isn't what you want. Please, just a moment of your time, that's all I am asking," I looked up, his dark hair falling in front of his glasses, looking down at me.

He might be a lot of things, but a liar isn't one. He'd do this here.

I stood, without looking at him, and headed for the doors.

…. 

"Thank you, Tamaki,"

"Don't do that," he reached the other side of the room and turned as I closed the door to a small conference room behind us. "Don't act like we're friends."

I took a deep breath and steadied myself, motioning for him to sit. I was ignored. "I have tried reaching out a few times now…"

"Yeah," he shifted on his feet, not bringing his eyes up from his feet.

"I just…I never properly apologized. So here I am," I bent at the waist. "I am _so sorry_. You have to know it was never my intention to-"

"It doesn't matter what your intention was, Iida." He scoffed saying my name, I raised back up to him finally looking at me. "As heroes, we both know better. Your intentions don't mean anything, your actions do. What's done is done. I'm not the public, you don't have to schmooze and smooth things out, we are allowed to not like each other."

"I don't want to smooth things out, Amajiki. I want you to know that I still regret everything-"

"Oh, you made it pretty clear what exactly is it you regretted." His laugh was cold.

My face must have reddened at his comment. "You're drunk."

He nodded sharply. "I am, and that doesn't make what I'm saying any less the truth."

"It has been years," I tried keeping my voice steady despite the shadow he was casting. "I just want to be able to work past this and be-"

"Friends? Are you really asking me to be friends right now?"

"I-I mean, yeah."

He finally sat down, resting his head on his thumbs, pointer fingers resting against his lips for just a moment. "Listen, Iida, you've got an incredible life, man. You're an accomplished hero, a family backing you, friends coming out of the woodwork, a woman who seems to adore you, and pretty much everyone agrees that you're the fucking embodiment of a stand-up guy. That's a hell of a list, and that's great. I am legitimately happy that things have gone well you, I am. But you were NOT a stand-up guy to me, and I am under no obligation to forgive you." He shook his head. "You say its been years. It has, and every year that goes by is another year I haven't heard from my parents. As soon as those Ketsubutsu kids spilled all the juicy UA gossip theyd heard to the media, it was over for me. I got cut out! What religious family wants to be associated with the token fag of heros? Certainly not them, and they made sure to let me know. I was sixteen, Iida. Do you know what that felt like?"

I sat hard in the chair next to him as he continued.

"So, I can appreciate why you're doing this. You're a good man, really, you are. Looking to make it right, even now. To have your apology accepted and released… but I can't give that to you. Not now, maybe not ever." He took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, but I just….I cant."

There was a dagger in my stomach and no words in my mouth as he stood.

"I hope you have a good night, Iida." He straightened his jacket.

"Sorry." And he was gone, leaving my head spinning. 

-Tamaki-

The coordinator that had guided Mirio and I to our seats appeared from out of nowhere in the hall I found myself in.

"….Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good," I shook my hand, releasing the tension and a few drops of blood. "How long have you been around?"

"Well, I saw you enter a back room with Ingenium, sir…." His voice was a little off.

"Oh, it wasn't like…you know….that," my heart was still pounding from the interaction.

"I know, sir. Fine tuned hearing is part of my quirk. I apologize, but I listened to the first few words of your exchange."

I paused; his face actually had pity on it.

"Listened to all of it, you mean?"

He nodded, keeping his head down.

"Keep this between you and I, yeah?"

Nodding again, "I could give you the name of my supervisor if you like to file a compl-"

"Don't be ridiculous. Just… could you maybe help me clean this up?" I looked back at the door I'd let loose on as I turned the darkened corner and shattered it. "I don't exactly know where to find a broom in here."

A relieved chuckle came from him, shaking his thin shoulders. "Sir, there is about to be any number of drunk, super-powered people roaming these halls that could have done this. Maybe best if we get you back to a seat and I handle it?"

"…Sorry for the trouble."

"Of the messes that will be caused at the coming party, this won't make the top ten. Go sit, before anyone else notices your absence. Intermission will be over in just a few minutes. Then only another half hour and you're done."

"I don't think I should sit back at that table…"

"I don't think that would be wise. Two tables back there is a seat that's owner never showed up, it's a larger seat than you'd need, but it's yours."

"Thanks, and…sorry. I just…. yeah. Thanks."

I stepped around the corner, headed back to the hall full of cameras and watching eyes, but never crossed the threshold of the door. I stood, watching as the awards continued. Smiling when Mirio went up to the stage to accept his award for his work with the military this last year. Even on a screen, his smile warmed my bones.

As All Might began closing out the show a waiter walked by with a tray of champagne, letting me take a flute of it. For about fifteen minutes it was all media being rushed out of the door and waiters rushing about, getting food and booze of all sorts out for the waiting crowds of already rowdy heroes. I didn't see Mirio, or remember what he had said, until it was too late.

"Where the _fuck_ is Tamaki?"

No amount of speed could've gotten me over there quick enough to pull him away before anyone else noticed. At least three other tables were all stopped in their tracks, watching Mirio square his shoulders, glaring at the other hero.

Iidas hands, resting on the table, raised towards the ceiling. "We had a conversation, that's all, he never came back to sit."

"Mirio, I'm here, calm down. Let's go, they've broken out the champagne. It's fine. Now isn't the time for this." I reeled my quirk back in, having had let a tentacle loose to touch his shoulder and get his attention while I went to him.

A coordinator appeared almost immediately. "Excuse me, sir, we have to ask you not to use any quirks while in the building, please."

"Better him than me," Mirio spat it out, before realizing his tone and turning to her, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, that was unnecessary."

She nodded and melted back into the milling heroes.

"Let's go, babe." He put an arm around my shoulder, basically pulling me from the hall. "I never would've agreed to go on stage if I'd known he'd be there. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault,"

"You're right! Why didn't Rhea give us a heads up? Aren't seating arrangements sent to all of the publicists for review?"

"And what about your publicist?" I pulled away just enough so he'd stop walking and look at me. "The cameras might be gone, but we are still in public. I'd… I'd really rather my dirty laundry not be aired here. O-Okay?"

He furrowed his brow and took a breath, hearing my voice break. "Okay, yeah, okay, you're right." He stepped closer, kissing my forehead. "Do you want to go? We can go home."

"I don't want you to miss-"

"The champagne isn't going to brace those nerves forever. Let's head home," he grabbed my hand, pulling me through the doors just in time for me to catch a glimpse of Tenya Iida walking towards us, mouth open, as if to call out. If he did, we were gone before it hit our ears. Please, for the love of all things holy, don't chase us down.

Mirio flagged down a driver, smiling as he did, as a few photographers were still milling outside the doors. _Pease,_ stay in the fucking building Iida.

The car pulled to the curb, Mirio practically jumped inside and I followed.

His phone was in his hand almost as soon as the door closed, the warmth he usually emanated was gone. Apparently, no answer so he returned the phone to his pocket.

"I need to find out the name of the coordinator that showed us to our seats," I looked out the window, not wanting to see him in the angry state that even mentioning Iida put him in.

"Well, I doubt he knew there was anything wrong with-" I shook my head at him.

"No…" my voice lowered. "I sort of hit a door, after Iida pulled me to the side, and broke it off the hinges. He cleaned it up for me so nobody would notice…"

He was silent for a moment, I turned back to try and gauge his expression, but his laugh erased my worry. "Jeez, babe. We aren't teenagers anymore!"

"I know…" my face began heating again, what a stupid reaction.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. That's just not very…you," he put a hand on my leg, the other pulling the bow tie loose, to hang from his collar.

We sat in silence for a few minutes while the driver took us across town, headed for Mirio's apartment. He was always good at knowing when to leave something alone and let me think. He led me into the building and into the elevator, waiting for me to speak.

"Do you think they'd be okay with it now… Now that it's… now that I'm with you?" My voice cracked as the words came out.

He froze next to me. "What?"

"D-Do you think maybe they'd at least-"

"NO!" he dropped my hand, grabbing my shoulders. "Even if they would. They don't get to. Not after what they did. No real parent does that." I could tell he'd had at least a few glasses of something during his time backstage as he met my eyes. "Nobody gets to treat you like that and swoop back in like all is well. Fuck them. Are you happy? Here, with me, are you happy?"

I could feel the sting of tears trying to make their way out, I bit them back, nodding my head. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm happy."

He kissed me hard, making my head spin, the alcohol making me focus on keeping my feet planted more so than his lips. The elevator doors opened and he pulled me through, mouth still on mine until we reached the door, his hand permeating through and forcing the lock open.

He finally pulled his face back. "Don't let them take that. Don't cry for them."

I hadn't noticed the tear that had escaped until he said it. But... Don't let them take it.

Don't let them take it.

I stepped in thorough the door, grabbing a shoulder to turn and press him to the wall the same way he had to me a few days prior. Clearly, I caught him off guard as he fell back, landing half crouched against the wall. He had been trying to say something but my mouth cut him off.

His jacket was off before I could register what my hands were doing. His found their way to my face while I worked my way through the buttons of his shirt, some of them ripping away under the pressure of my hands. Just wanting to feel his heat against me, I tugged it from his shoulders, sliding his hands from my face in the process.

I broke my face away from his, pulling my own jacket off. "Stand up."

He did, kicking his shoes off as he balanced. I grabbed his hand, pulling him as I walked backwards into the entryway of the living room. His eyes were too dark to read his expression, but I didn't need to, his mouth found mine before I gently pushed him back onto the island of ottoman positioned in the middle of the room. His now bare chest flexed as he sat back, the heat pooling in my stomach growing as I watched, unbuttoning my vest and shirt as quickly as my fingers could manage, still tingling from the booze.

I climbed between his legs, bracing myself with one arm on the edge on the ottoman and the other against his cheek. The kiss was fast, I moved down his neck and to his chest that was nearing the temperature of the sun.

"Tamaki…" his breath was short and he reached to brace himself against something behind his head, finding nothing. His skin surprisingly smooth across my mouth, gliding against each other like silk and satin.

I planted my foot and pushed myself back up to kiss him. He pulled up onto his elbows, bending my back in an awkward angle before he disappeared from under me, activating his quirk. Nearly slamming my face down onto the leather.

"What the shit, Mirio?" I flipped over, seeing his now naked form standing over me.

"You weren't going to let me take an inch, were you?" he jumped onto the ottoman, a leg on either side of my hips, erection slapping against his stomach while he pulled me into a kiss. Hands were at my waste, pulling to release my belt.

His lips parted, allowing my tongue to slip past them, just for a moment.

His knees slid further down as his kisses led him down my neck, just as I had done to him. "Can I take these off?" his eyes met mine, hands resting on the band of my pants, knotting my gut even more. He kept kissing down my chest, further and further while he slid my pants past my ankles with his hands.

His knees planted to the floor with a thud, forcing my legs a bit further apart to make room for his large frame. My body was running on alcohol induced autopilot, scooting an elbow below to brace myself up so I could look at his face. He licked his lips but didn't break his eyes from mine for a solid second.

I tried to sit up and pull him into a kiss, but was pushed back to my elbows before I could get the momentum.

"No," he licked his lips again. "Not yet."

His head moved just slowly enough for my brain to process what he was doing before I felt it, just barely. His lips parted, tongue sliding out onto me, sending electricity straight to my head. My hips moved forward, slipping further into his mouth. He retracted his tongue, focusing on taking more of me into his warm, wet mouth. My head spun, feeling his hands slip under my ass, pulling my hips up as he moved his head down. Only half of me was in before he pulled back, taking in air before trying again.

The thought hit me then, Mirio's never really been with a guy… besides me the other night. While he did let his tongue glide across my head then, this was probably his first time really doing this.

"Fuck," it came out as an exhale. I moved my hand to his hair, shifting my weight to one elbow, and slowed his pace. "Breathe, babe."

He took a breath as his mouth came back up my shaft, the coolness sending a shiver down my back. His hands grabbed, still under me, pulling as he tried to take more.

"Jesus, Mirio," saliva strung from his lips as he looked up, mouth not releasing my head. He slid back down, taking over two thirds of my cock into his mouth. "Ah…"

My toes curled, and my hand in his hair tightened, accidently forcing him a little further than I should've. I let go, allowing him up, coughing from the pressure I'd caused.

"S-Sorry," I released the tension from my legs as he pulled his hands from under me, wiping his mouth just before I could reach it with mine. "Come on."

I stood, pushing the ottoman back with my legs and helping haul him up from his knees. His hand found mine and we fell into the bedroom, finding the small bottle of lube on the side table where we'd left it.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for any shots taken at talk of parents! Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought!


	7. Forward

I woke to his hands on my face, brow furrowed as he looked at me.

"Are you okay?"

The fog refused to clear. "W-What?"

"You were screaming, babe," I could feel the warmth of his still naked body against me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Tamaki, you were screaming. Like, full on," he pulled my face over to look at me.

What? "Was I?"

"When's the last time you saw doctor Hensley?"

"Uh…last month some time?" I rubbed my eyes, twisting my body around to face him.

"Before Breaker?"

"I mean…yeah."

"Babe, you can't ignore this. It's been weeks since you've been out of the hospital and the nightmares are getting worse."

"Worse?" he frowned at my one-word question.

"Yeah… they're every night. You don't remember them?"

I shook my head.

"Make the call," he said, pushing hair from my face. "I'm worried about you."

"Don't be," I kissed his forehead. "Go back to sleep."

He laid his head down, nuzzling into my neck. "Promise me you'll call her, please."

"Okay…I promise."

Chirp. -You're covered for today, assuming you were out late. Last day though, be back here tomorrow morning.-

Of course, he didn't text me until I was already in full uniform, ready to walk out the door. But still, Fat Gum is the best there is. I slid right back out of my uniform, cloak, eye guard, utility pouches littered the floor between the front door and the bedroom by the time I crawled back in next to Mirio. He had scheduled himself a day off in advance like a reasonable adult.

I sat there next to his warm body, laying there like a fucking model. How did I ever manage to get him as a friend…then a lover? I'd never understand it.

If I knew Mirio, his internal clock would have him awake at five forty-five on the dot, stomach growling. So, when I decided sleep was passed me, I got up and moved to the kitchen, rifling around to find a muffin pan, cutting boards, and knives. It only took me about ten minutes to get everything I needed sliced, diced, and set to the side while I preheated the oven and washed the knives and cutting boards I'd used. Once they were in the oven I sat on the couch, turning the TV on to wait the first twenty minutes of cook time. Nothing of real consequence until at least six, so I just continued to channel hop until I heard the ding of the oven timer go off. I took what had been out, mixing them with the rest of the ingredients and placing the muffin tin into the oven to finish it off. Done and Done. Total boyfriend material.

Sure enough, five forty-five came around and I heard his stretching and groaning begin.

"Good morning!" he yelled from the bed.

"Morning, how'd you sleep?"

"As well as ever!" I could hear him get up off of the bed. "I thought you had a shift?"

"Yeah, Fat Gum to the rescue…again," I tossed the remote down to the couch, leaving the news on as I hauled myself off of the cushions.

"What's that smell?" he appeared in the doorframe, pulling on sweats.

"Turkey wrapped potato and egg 'muffins.' Heaven forbid you eat normal muffins," I felt the smile rise to my lips as I said it, walking into the kitchen.

"What?!" he leapt behind me. "Seriously? Thank you! Not all of us are blessed with the ability to digest atom bombs and come out on top. Jeez, they smell fantastic!"

The timer went off right as we entered the kitchen. "I couldn't eat an atom bomb even if I tried."

"If half of us heroes ate the way you did, we'd put the spandex industry out of business. It'd be elastic band uniforms for the lot of us." His laugh filled the room as I pulled the tin out of the oven and set it on the stove.

"Boyfriend material?"

"Hell yeah!" he laughed, kissing my cheek. "How're you feeling?"

"What do you mean?"

"…About last night?"

I flipped the tin to its side, pulling the breakfast muffins out to cool, and side eyed him. I couldn't stop the chuckle or the redness that immediately found my face. "Trying to toot your own horn or something?"

He broke out in laughter, leaning on the counter. "I meant everything that happened at the awards, but I guess that too!" he plucked a hot muffin off of the tray. "I know you've had to work with him briefly before…but, I mean, you broke a fucking door, babe. That's not very…Suneater."

"I know, I'm not sure why I did it." I tried grabbing one, but decided it was too hot, returning it to the counter. "I just… I was drunk, and I can't look at him without thinking about my parents. I snapped. Luckily that coordinator was there."

"Yeah," he took a bite, breathing around the hot chunk of food. "Did Rhea ever send an explanation?"

I shook my head. "I haven't tried calling her yet. Figured I'd wait until eight or so."

"What did the envelope she left you have in it?" he covered his mouth while he ate.

"Oh…I forgot about it!" I pushed off of the counter, walking around to find my discarded jacket on the floor.

"You know, I do have a hamper,"

This time I laughed, pulling the slightly crumpled envelope from the pocket. "Yeah, sorry. I'll clean up in a second."

_I know I waited until last minute to schedule all of this since I thought your injuries might keep you down longer, but my job is to make things go smoothly for you. I've failed in that. By the time the coordinators sent me the seating chart, there wasn't anything I could do. I figured that if I told you beforehand, you'd panic and refuse to go. If that happened, Mirio wouldn't have gone. We both know how it would have looked if his first missed event was the first after he started seeing you. So, I made the decision to sit on the information. I am sorry._

_I hope to continue working and growing with you, but I know I have taken advantage of your trust. I don't take that lightly and have taken the liberty of scheduling you a video appointment with doctor Hensley tomorrow at ten, so you don't have to leave the house if you don't want to. I am well aware that my position is an at will one, so if you decide you would like a new publicist to represent you, I will help you find someone that is up to the task. _

_If you think we can work past this together, then I look forward to it. I am SO sorry. I hope your night goes well regardless. -Rhea_

Damn it Rhea.

"What's it say?" he was talking around his second muffin.

"Its…. kind of a letter of resignation. I think?"

"Really?" he hopped off the counter, leaning over my shoulder to read. "Huh. So, what are you thinking?"

I tossed it to the counter. "I don't know."

"Alright, well, why don't you sit on it and we'll figure it out later. At least she set up an appointment, so you don't have to!"

"Yeah…." I ran my hand through my hair, pushing it back.

Mirio hopped back up on the counter, gabbing another muffin, turning it over in his hands, looking at me.

"What's up?"

He smiled, and met my eyes. "I love you."

"W-What?"

-Mirio-

His eyes widened, "W-What?"

A laugh bubbled in my throat. "Don't be weird. I've told you I love you before."

His head nodded, barely. "Well, yeah…but-"

"But it's different now?"

He nodded again, swallowing. How could someone be so freaking cute at like six in the morning?

"It is different now." I nodded back at him, smiling too. "But it's still true, I love you Tamaki." He walked the few paces to the counter, positioning himself between my legs, and grabbing my face. I nearly choked on my muffin at how quickly he moved, swallowing the whole bite after barely chewing. "Jesus, babe."

He kissed me, harder than he usually did. Breaking the kiss and putting his forehead against mine, "I love you too, Mirio." His eyes were closed, cheeks pink, and a smile spread across his lips. "I've pretty much loved you since I met you."

I felt warmth spread to the pit of my stomach. "Oh yeah?"

"Don't be weird," he was still smiling when he pulled his face away from mine.

"Have you met me?"

He laughed, picking up the various articles of clothing off of the floor. "I only had time to rinse off earlier, so I'm going to go take an actual shower."

"Okay, are you good here? Was thinking about going to train for a little while," I picked up another muffin.

"Yeah, I'm good. You know two of those is a serving right?" he ran a hand through his hair, but the shorter length meant it fell right back to where it had been.

"Don't judge me," I hopped off of the counter. "You take your shower, talk to Hensley, and I'll be back at noon. Maybe a little before. Sound good?"

He nodded while he walked away from me, sliding the shirt over his head just before he crossed into the dark bed room, showing me the lean muscles that lined his back and shoulders.

"How are you gonna start stripping while I'm trying to leave?"

I tried to shoot off after him, but he'd always been quicker. He bounded through the bedroom and had the door closed before I could make it completely into the bedroom. "Too slow!"

"I could just come through the door!"

"You won't though," He was laughing. "Have a good workout!"

"But, hey," I permeated my face through the door, catching a glimpse of his ass before he pulled his sweats back up, realizing I was there. "I love you."

"Get out of here!" he threw the towel from the wall at me. "I love you too!"

For a number of months things continued the way they had been. Mirio stayed at Tamiki's apartment for two days a week and vice versa, as well as a weekly night on the town and a meeting with friends every other week, whenever possible. In terms of their personal lives, things were starting to settle.

The Kouman case, however, went stagnant. No more mugshots had been found with people bearing the mark on their necks and Jump had seemingly vanished into thin air. Even the organizations buyers that had been cooperating with police in the area suddenly went quiet. Slowly but surely the threat of a breakout attempt seemed less likely, so the task force was cut in half and given to those who would rather stay off of the front lines of everyday crime. Breaker was eventually moved to a private facility so Enterlock could work on getting him to talk, her methods were questionable, but that seemed to fall more under police jurisdiction than the heroes.

As for handling their public lives, Rhea apologized numerous times despite Tamaki assuring her he didn't want her fired. The coordinator from the Ultras mysteriously found a stack of cash and a thank you note in his work locker the week after he helped Suneater, and told himself he'd try to be the couples event coordinator from that point on. As for Tenya Iida, he never tried to reach back out, which seemed out of character to Tamaki. However, he had started going back to his every other week meetings with Doctor Hensley and on her advice, tried not to over analyze.

Nearly everything started to feel a little calmer. But….Mirio wasn't ever one to settle on calm for long.

* * *

"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate doing laundry at your house?"

"You mean you just hate having to do your own?" I laughed, tossing the folded shirt to him.

Mirio caught it midair without looking away from the case file he had propped up on his feet. The position would've looked awkward if I, or anyone else, attempted it, but somehow with his legs pressed together and held in the air as a tray of sorts, he looked perfectly comfortable and relaxed. "I do love having a laundry service, but I more meant the machines. These things sound like we put our pants, shirts, socks, and maybe a couple dozen bricks in there! I'm sure anyone passing by will think an exorcism is going on in here."

"They're not that bad! They've just…gotten a little noisy in their old age," I finished folding the last pair of jeans and hoisted the overfilled basket up.

His laugh boomed in the little laundry room of my apartment building as he hopped up from where he sat on the washing machine, finally grabbing the file with his hands and zipping around to grab the door. "Yeah, well maybe we could just take it all to my place and not have to worry about anything but hanging it up?"

"What would I do with my Tuesdays then?" his smile infected me, spreading one across my face as well.

"We could…. Walk in the park, send a criminal to jail, play parcheesi…?"

"Parcheesi?" I took the couple steps up and out onto the lawn, headed back for my building.

"Well, yeah!" he sped up, walking backwards in front of me, grinning. "Or, you know, whatever you'd rather be doing!"

"Oh, I'll play parcheesi with you," I could feel my smile widen. "But what I won't be doing is lugging all of my laundry across town every week. So, you can take full advantage of your laundry service, and I'll be washing my own underwear without showing it to a poor taxi driver or the media, thank you."

He turned to his side, side stepping to open the door and let me pass. "Well, alternatively, you could just… keep it all at my place?"

I dropped the full basket onto the coffee table, turning to look at him. "What are you saying?"

He still had a hand on the open door, leaning into it. "I think you know what I'm saying."

I shook my head. "You have more of a conservative following than I do, if being in a casual relationship with a guy docked you almost an entire ranking, what would moving in together do?"

He flicked the door closed, slapping a hand to his chest. "Oof, shot to the heart, babe. A casual relationship?"

"You know what I mean. We've only been together six months; a lot of people aren't going to like that."

"Oh, screw them! We've been together for years, just not so romantically," he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, sinking onto the couch. "It's already been reported that we stay at each other's houses, so who's to say they'd care more about living together than that? And, for that matter, who cares?!"

"You will, if you drop out of top three you may not be able to afford your fancy laundry service!" I laughed this time, causing him to as well.

"I've got total confidence in my ability to maintain my rank, love." His laugh shook his chest.

"I'm not doubting your ability," I kissed his hand. "Just doubting the publics ability to be reasonable for more than twelve seconds."

"Hey, have a little faith!" he pushed forward, making me sit up to look at him. "I won't push you, but the offer is there. You just let me know when you're ready."

"When? What if I don't want to leave my apartment at all?"

He furrowed his brow, looking at me. "Then I'll move in here. If you'll have me."

I felt the heat spread across my cheeks while he looked at me, waiting. "You actually want to go through with this?"

"Of course! I love you Tamaki," his smile returned. "Why wouldn't I want to?"

"…Let me think about it."

He shrugged. "Like I said, the offer is there! You just let me know, okay?"

I nodded, getting back up. "For now, how about we get these put up and go to the gym for a while? I'm pretty sure they've got some equipment you'd like at mine, and since I won't be able to go in the morning I'd like to go tonight."

"Sounds good to me, I just need everything upper body today anyway. Sure they'd be cool with me coming to the agency?"

"You really think Fat would care?"

"No, but I'll go grab us some food real quick, everything but fast food will be closed by the time we're out. Better to get it now!" he jumped up from the couch, stepping towards the door.

"You just don't want to help put stuff away!"

"Huh?" he grinned as he slipped out the door, closing it before I could respond.

I couldn't help my smile, such a dork.

I hauled the basket into the bedroom, squeezing through the doorframe without anything falling out was a task in and of itself. Figuring out how to get all of their stuff into the limited drawer space was _another_ task.

Poucchi purred, sliding between my feet as I worked my way through the darks. "Do you want to move, Poucchi girl?" She meowed her response, padding through across the room and through the door. "Go talk to Deedra about it so she can tell me. I don't speak your language!"

Was moving in together the right 'next step?' The butterflies moving around in my stomach when he asked said maybe it is…. But is it worth costing him his rank?

I pulled my phone out, when in doubt, let Rhea's reaction decide.

-Hey, what work would go n2 me moving in w/ Mirio? Whats my lease term?-

Not five seconds had passed before the phone was ringing.

"Hello?"

"You're moving in together?!" her voice was shrill through the tiny speaker.

"I mean, he asked me… but what kind of damage would he be looking at to his rank?"

"Maybe you should worry about your own rankings?"

"I don't have as much of a conservative fanbase as he does. Coming out as dating him didn't do anything negative to me, so I can't imagine this would. He might be looking at a numbers drop though."

"I doubt that, honestly," she paused for a minute. "Do you want to move in with him?"

"Not if it will have negative impacts on his career."

"Tamaki, would you even be calling me about this if you didn't really want to live with him?"

Damn, she's right. "I guess not…"

"Exactly. Let me shoot a message over to his team, since we have warning we can work together on responses for when the press takes notice. Until then, try and keep Mirio from shouting updates from the rooftops, okay?"

I laughed, smile returning. "If only I had that kind of power."

"Right?" she chuckled in return. "I'll let you know what his team says by end of day."

"Okay, thanks Rhea."

"Don't mention it. Seriously though, how soon are you talking about this? I can hire trucks and such if you can wait a week or so."

"Well when is my lease agreement up?"

"I've been doing a month to month lease pretty much since you guys have been together. So just give me the word, I'll handle everything."

"When you talk to his team could you make sure to mention I would be paying my half of the rent on that place? If I ask Mirio he won't tell them."

"Sure thing. Have you gone over your prep file for tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure why it has to be held in the square. Don't these things usually just happen in studio?"

"Well, since it's a panel kind of thing they're doing it in the square as a way to boost business around there too. Nothing like a lineup of heroes out front to boost sales, right?"

"I guess. Can you just keep me posted on what his team says? I have to get off of here and get ready to go workout."

"You got it, have fun!" she hung up the phone, undoubtedly already dialing Mirios team.

I abandoned the rest of the laundry basket and fell back onto the bed. Holy crap. Could moving in with Mirio really be happening so soon? I mean, six months isn't super long to have been dating but after nearly two decades of friendship it was hard to measure their relationship in terms of months. And waking up to him every single day… the thought sent more butterflies to my stomach.

"Hungry?" I heard the front door burst open as he entered.

I sat up but stayed on the bed, "Can you come in here for a minute?"

"Yep! Oof," probably kicking his shoes off as he walked.

He turned into the short hall, juggling a few food containers, and smiled at me. "Hey, you didn't even work on the-"

"You want me to move in with you, like, really?" I didn't mean to interrupt, but my mouth worked faster than my brain.

He shifted the containers in his hands, "Hell yeah, I do!"

"Then…let's do it." My smile slid onto my face slowly, watching his face switch from his baseline happy to fucking elation.

"You… you mean it?" his grin was immediate.

I nodded, he dropped the containers he had been holding and leapt through the air onto me.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, really!" I couldn't help but chuckle at his wide eyed, happy expression.

"I LOVE you!" he grabbed my face for a kiss. "I can't believe- like- are you sure? You don't want to think about it more?"

"You having second thoughts?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"We both know I would've moved you into my house the moment you agreed to date me if I thought you'd let me," his smile broadened, kissing me again. "Let's pack some stuff then! We can probably get a good chunk boxed up tonight!"

"Whoa, hold up!" he had already leapt from the bed, ready to go. "Not so fast! Rhea is going to hire a moving truck for next week, no need to rush!"

"Next week?" I nodded, his shoulders slumping just a hair. "Ugh, why would you tell me now then? You know how hard its going to be in that empty apartment for seven entire days?"

"When is the last time we went seven days without one of us staying at the others house?"

He furrowed his brow. "You know what I mean."

"You're adorable when you sulk. But I meant what I said earlier, I want to go workout, so get dressed, we'll eat and then head out!"

"Today we are honored by the presence of three proheros! Please welcome to the show Native, Sensoji, and the Suneater!" the two reporters sat across from us heroes, whose chairs had been lined up on a small platform.

Luckily, they had asked us to be in full uniform for the interview, so having my cloak between me and the small crowd behind me felt like a godsend. I had a coffee cup from a small shop here in the square, during televised interviews I always make sure to have something to hold, or else I end up not knowing what to do with my hands.

"Hello, heroes!" the woman chimed in this time, her voice much less grating than her loud male counterparts. "First, I would like to say thank you for being here."

I smiled and nodded, letting the other two jump in to verbally respond to her.

"So, just a few things, we aren't going live today so no worries about that, and we might be asking personalized questions but this is a joint interview. If you have something to add to an answer, by all means, go ahead. Everyone ready?"

I nodded again and Native gave a nicer, "Yes, ma'am!"

Her male counterpart jumped back in. "So, Sensoji! How is it being back in Japan after spending so much time abroad? Any reason for the sudden reappearance?"

"In all honesty, money, man." The larger man, sat in the middle of Native and I, adjusted in his seat. "I took a few years off of hero work while I was out of country, now I need to replenish the accounts, know what I mean? No better place for that than here at home!"

They went back and forth for about ten minutes, talking about he and Natives hero work outside of Japan. I mostly sipped my coffee, listening to Sinsojis bolstering.

"Suneater, do you have any plans for eventually traveling abroad? Or do you plan on staying here?"

I swallowed my coffee, surprised that the woman had turned to me. "Well, I love my agency. Honestly, I'm not sure getting the licensing for quirk work in another country is worth it for me. Maybe one day, but no plans as of now." I smiled back at her.

"I thought you did some offshores work earlier this year?" Native leaned forward in his seat to make eye contact when he asked, did he not know I'd actually been hospitalized? Most pros knew, even if the press didn't.

"Yes, I didn't need any special licensing for that though, since it was a case directly involving Japan."

Native nodded, sitting back and chuckling. "Gotta love that fine line, right?"

The woman laughed, continuing on with the other two. 'Have you found hero work to get easier or harder the older you get?' 'Where has been your favorite place to do hero work?' Etc.

Then, her male counterpart spoke up. "So, Suneater, have you found your work life being effected by your relationship with a top five hero?"

"Uh, nope, not really. We make a point to keep our work lives separate."

"Any particular reason why?" I could feel the eyes of the other heroes on me, as well as the reporters.

I tried a chuckle, but it sounded a little flat, even to me, "So that we are regarded as our own heroes, no fun putting all the work in for someone else to swoop in and take half of the credit. Even if they're your life partner!"

"Life partner?" his eyebrow shot up.

I nodded, why did this guy seem so interested in this.

"Interesting. Any future planning going on with you two?" even as he said it the woman looked at him questioningly. The entire premise of the interview was supposed to be our work, personal interviews were supposed to hit on relationships and the like.

I shifted in my seat, "Yeah, actually. I plan on furthering my training on the policing side of hero work. A recent case I was on made me appreciate working closer with the police than I had previously."

The woman nodded, seemingly glad for my almost smooth transition back to hero work. That sparked about four minutes worth of dialogue with us finally all talking about the separation of hero and police work and what that meant, before he latched on again.

"Have you found that your relationship to Lemillion has changed your relations to the public, specifically the more traditional population?" his coworkers eyes widened just a bit, trying to compose herself for the cameras, but clearly uncomfortable.

I felt my brow furrow just a second before I could smooth it. "What do you mean by traditional, exactly?"

His gaze shifted just slightly when I met his eyes. "Well, there is a portion of the population that still believe that two men-"

"You're talking about homophobes. Don't mince words, if you're going to ask a dickish question then ask it right out." Sensoji huffed at him, sitting back in his chair.

My stomach sank, at least he didn't beat around the bush, I guess.

The reporter cleared his throat, slightly less confident now. "Yes, well, have you found their presence to be affecting your interactions with the public?"

I shifted again, who the fuck is this guy. "No. There's been speculation as to my romantic life for a long time, so usually those types of people don't go out of their way to talk to me anyway."

"Those types of people?" he tilted his head.

"Yeah, bud, fucking homophobes!" Sensoji piped in again before I could respond. "Have you got a problem, my guy? This interview isn't supposed to be about who we're sleeping with, ya know."

Somebody give him a fucking raise.

Apparently learning his lesson, he let his coworker launch back into her questioning. The heat that had built on my face wasn't going away, so I just sipped my coffee until asked a direct question.

"Do you have any plans to take on sidekicks of your own, Suneater?"

I shook my head. "No, I've spoken with Fat Gum about this just recently, actually. I plan on bettering my teamwork and building on that with others I meet on scene and things like that until I hit that ten year or so mark in the pros. Then I'd be more comfortable helping coach and such."

"Well, you're a top fifteen hero, certainly you could teach a thing or two!" she smiled.

"Maybe, but I'll get there in time!" I smiled back.

"You had mentioned speculation into your romantic life, what specifically were you referring to?" he launched right back into it. The heat came back, but not in my face, everywhere.

"Is there a reason you're only asking me questions about my personal life? Certainly, there are better questions you could be asking." Sensoji muttered something about the reporter being a dumb ass while I spoke, Native nodding.

"Well, you tend to not agree to interviews. I believe having a gay hero might be a beneficial role model, so why not answer questions about your relationship?"

"Because if you ask me questions about my career, I will be answering them as a gay hero as well." I set my coffee to the side. "I don't have to be answering questions about my relationship to highlight my gayness. I am gay, and I am hero. If you would like to schedule a personal interview, I'd be happy to answer questions like that, but that's not what I signed on for today. It's not fair to me, or to my two fellow heroes here. You're wasting our time… Sir."

Sensoji barked a laugh, clapping me on the shoulder. "Get 'em!"

The reporters face flushed. "Would you agree to a personal interview?"

"Probably not, if I'm honest."

"Then how do you expect these questions get answered? Would Lemillion be willing? He tends to be more open with information, maybe he could be the face of LGBT heroes. Someone needs to be willing to talk about this in the light of day. Bring it to people's attention."

"That would be a question for Lemillion, though there isn't any one face for the LGBTQ community, in the hero world or otherwise." I could feel my fingers tighten as they locked together. "The reason this isn't ever talked about in interviews with heroes it because it doesn't matter to us. It doesn't. I shouldn't get special attention in this interview because I'm in a relationship with a man, I should only get attention for the quality of my work being done. And, 'In the light of day?' What exactly are you implying there? I think LGBTQ kids do need someone like them in the media to look up to. Here I am, in front of you, being a role model. I don't have to parade myself around, talking about my _personal_ life for your satisfaction. You want tokenism, and I'm not a token. I am Suneater. When I put this uniform on my priority shifts from Mirio and myself to the public, I am a public servant. So, if you have questions about how I plan on protecting the public I'd be happy to entertain you. But until then you can keep your fucking trap shut and let your better here continue the interview, she seems to be an actual professional."

I didn't realize I had been leaning forward in my chair until I leaned back and picked my coffee back up.

Fuck.

A guy slipped in behind the reporters, saying something, then disappearing again. The male reporter stood and walked off after him.

"I am… so sorry about that," she had a hand on either side of her face, pressing her temples. "We will cut all of that footage, that was ridiculous. I-I don't even know what to say."

"Well, I wouldn't bother with that," Native sat up, motioning a hand around to the cell phones being held in the air by people all around the little interview set up. "Might as well just try to spin it in a less…aggressive kind of way."

"Way to fucking put him in his place though, kid." Sensoji clapped me on the back again.

Fuck.

-Rhea-

_"Well, if it wasn't hard enough to get Suneater, number thirteen hero in all of Japan, to sit for an interview, a reporter from a competing network may have just put the final nail in his interview anxieties. Bystanders began filming when the reporter began asking wildly out of line questions for the kind of interview they were in, watch as our favorite shape shifting hero defends himself against the line of questioning." _

Flip.

"_I don't want the guy to lose his job, but he should certainly learn how to do it." _They filmed Tamaki saying to Sensoji as he left the venue.

Flip.

"_Maybe the reporter had a bit of a point. Suneater made it seem like his sexuality was separate from his identity as a hero, that might come off as toxic to certain groups-"_

Flip.

"_This type of stunt is exactly why LGBTQ heroes don't make their sexuality known. It becomes a whole thing and if they're focused on the media judging their personal lives then they won't be focused on saving people. Leave them alone!"_

Click.

I took a deep breath. "I think you'll need to make a statement."

He was sitting in the corner chair in my office, staring out the window.

"Tamaki?"

He looked back at me, "I really don't think I should have to."

"You're right, you shouldn't. But I'm thinking we can make this work towards your advantage."

His hands clenched, looking back out the window. He may be shy, but broody wasn't usually his thing. What a shit show.

"I think making a public statement about-"

"About what Rhea? Nothing needs to be said! Everyone has known I was gay for years, why is it now suddenly a big deal? We've been public for over six months, why now?" his dark eyes shot daggers.

I sat down next to him. "Tamaki, nobody knew for sure if you were gay or not. One rumor spread years ago and while some people latched to the idea most people assumed you were asexual."

He just stared out of the window.

"Now," I took a deep breath, hoping to not stir his anger. The situation with his parents seemed to make any conversation about his sexuality make him uncomfortable. But it has to be done now. "This is a big deal. I think you know that. For so many people out there you're now who they see as their representation. You didn't ask for that, and I know it isn't fair, but that's where we find ourselves. I think making a statement would be beneficial, not only for you to get whatever you're feeling off of your chest, but also so none of these fucking jokers can speculate about what you mean by anything you said here."

He sat in silence still.

"Can I say something you may not want to hear…?"

He nodded.

"I'm really proud of you, Tamaki." His jaw clenched. "You stood your ground with him. You really are a role model, you know that, right?"

"I don't know that I want to be." He turned to look me in the eye.

"Nobody does," I grabbed his hand. "But such is the game of being a hero in today's world."

"I want to talk to Hensley before I make any decisions."

"I think that'd be good."

-Mirio-

"Lemillion, get in here!" the booming voice rang out before my entire body was even through the door of the agency.

"Yessir!" I bounded past the sidekicks, that were filing and moving paperwork, and into his office. "What's up?"

He turned in his chair, side eyeing me. "Did you see the ridiculous amount of press outside?"

"For sure!" I plopped into the chair in front of his desk. "I didn't accidentally permeate through anyone's house again though, I promise! We kept him contained in the retail district! It's not thanks to me!"

"I know, it's thanks to your boyfriend." His voice was cold as ever, I was suddenly out of my chair.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine, nothing like that. Sit down." He motioned to the chair and picked up the remote, clicking to the television on.

A poor-quality video of Tamaki leaning forward in a director type chair popped up.

"…_and I'm not a token. I am Suneater. When I put this uniform on my priority shifts from Mirio and myself to the public, I am a public servant. So, if you have questions about how I plan on protecting the public I'd be happy to entertain you. But until then you can keep your fucking trap shut and let your better here continue the interview, she seems to be an actual professional."_

I felt a smile spread across my lips.

"He used your real name." Sir turned to me.

"Oh please, reporters usually call me Mirio. It's not like it's a secret."

"It's unprofessional."

My heart was beating fast. "What else did he say?"

"Just flip through the channels, it's everywhere. I would suggest connecting with his team before opening your mouth in front of a camera."

"I can't believe he told off a reporter! What a babe!"

He rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses up his nose. "File your report, then go handle this."

"You got it!" I skipped from his office. "I'm gonna call him while I do it though!"

He didn't respond so I went to my desk and dialed Tamaki. No answer. Bleh.

Filing the report only took about ten minutes, so I handed it off to a clerk and bolted out the door.

Where the entire media seemed to be swarming.

"Hey guys, I don't think I'll be handling questions anymore. Suneater seems to have us handled!" I couldn't help but laugh. "I'll be making a statement once I speak with him, having been on a mission I hadn't heard anything about his interview until just now. Have a good day!"

I phased through the ground in front of them, shooting off in the other direction, dialing Rhea.

"Hey! Is he with you? Can't get an answer,"

"Yeah, he's here."

"Ask him if I can stop in!"

There was mumbling in the speaker as she turned away from the mouthpiece.

"Yeah, come on over."

I slid the phone in my pocket, already less than a block away. Permeating through their wall was easy enough, then I just had to make it up to her office.

"Babe!" I came through the wall, Rhea jumping almost a foot in the air. I grabbed his shoulders, dragging him up into a hug. "What a legend! I can't believe you told off a reporter!"

He sank into the hug, sighing.

"What's wrong?" I pulled my face back, his eyes seemed glossy. "No, no don't be upset! This isn't a bad thing, babe. Right?"

I looked back at Rhea, who shrugged.

"I've only seen a few seconds of the clip. Did… something else happen?"

"I'm about to be the token gay hero. Just what I've tried to avoid my entire career." His voice was small.

"You're not _the_ token gay hero, there's plenty of gay heroes!"

"None in the spotlight, they've been smart enough to keep the media out of it," he pulled back into his chair.

"Hey, I'm here in it with you."

"You're the golden boy. Plus, you've had public relationships with women, they won't bombard you like they will him." Rhea pointed out.

"Hensley thinks making a statement might be a good idea too," he looked up at me. "I don't want this to be the highlight of my career. It's supposed to be about the good I do."

Oof.

-Rhea-

The large blonde sat hard into the chair next to Tamaki.

"Maybe this isn't the good you had in mind… but maybe this is doing good too?"

I saw Tamaki clench his jaw again, fighting back tears. "I cussed at a reporter Mirio, that's not exactly the heroic kick off to a good deed. Any statement I make will feel like damage control."

"Not if you don't make it an apology statement." I sat in my chair.

"What do you have in mind?" Mirios big eyes met mine.

I tapped my fingers on my desk, leaning forward. "I know you have social media, Lemillion, but how used to using it are you?"

He looked a little confused, I opted to not look at Tamaki's reaction.

"I mean, I'm pretty well versed I guess."

I sat back, a lightbulb going off. "Give me a couple hours, go home, take a shower, wait for me to get there."

"Uh…what?" Tamakis eyes were widened.

"Hey, I heard what Hensley said too. Can you trust me, please?"

He swallowed, hard, then looked at Mirio. When he looked back at me, he nodded, getting up to take his boyfriends hand.

"Thanks, Rhea!" Mirio called behind him, practically dragging the dark-haired man out the door.

Time to work...


	8. Intruder

"Hey there, Lemillion here guys! Welcome to the homestead!" the camera clicked on, taking a second to focus on the blondes face. "I've only ever gone live once, so if there are any problems just hang in here with us, we'll get it figured out!"

Rhea was sat by the window, laptop open, logged onto the livestream, muted since she was in the same living room as it was being broadcast from. Online less than a minute and already almost two thousand people were watching. Thank goodness Mirio actually had social media.

"I'm just using my phone here so sorry if the quality isn't super fantastic!" he chuckled, adjusting on the couch to show Tamaki, who waved at the camera, on the couch behind him. "We are coming live today to talk to you guys about all the craziness that's been going on! I'm sure you guys have seen or at least heard about the interview this morning… it was wild, right?"

Mirio settled onto the couch, leaning back onto a slightly red-faced Tamaki.

"We're going to be straight with you guys about a few things that aren't talked about a lot by us heroes." He inhaled through his nose, pausing for a second before he refocused on the screen. "Media is like… a hugely important part of our culture; they get the word out fast about a lot of important stuff. Without the media… us heroes would be dead in the water really. Nobody would know about anything that didn't happen right in front of them. But, like most things, there is bad that comes along with the good."

Tamaki chimed in, "Sometimes a hero's fans will want to know more about them. The media tries to help them out with that but, in the process, they seem to forget that we're just people too."

Mirio nodded, "And everyone handles their personal lives differently. You all know I'm pretty much an open book. While in the past I was able to do that with other relationships, Suneater here isn't as comfortable with all of it!" his laugh shook the camera.

Rhea was keeping an eye on the comments streaming in. Viewers up to six and a half thousand. Almost to the goal viewers for the timeframe.

The blonde continued. "But! After talking a few things over today…"

"We decided that we would come straight to you guys to answer any questions you might have, about us, as people, instead of as heroes." Tamaki gave a small smile after getting an assuring look from the blonde next to him.

"So, we have our team here to help us with getting your questions from the comments, so go ahead and shoot some of them down there!" he paused, looking back at Tamaki's face. "And, that being said, hello, again! I'm Mirio Togata!"

"I'm Tamaki Amajiki," Mirio had been laid back into his chest, but now Tamaki moved his arm to be draped over his boyfriends' shoulder and resting on his chest.

"And _we_ are dating! Cool, right?" Mirios smile beamed, making Tamaki flush just a little.

Eleven thousand and increasing fast!

"We have been best friends since the third grade, but just about six months ago we realized that we weren't meant to be just friends, and decided to start seeing each other romantically."

"And it's been a fantastic half year! Being in a relationship with your best friend makes for smooth sailing, right!?" Mirio beamed up at Tamaki this time, who smiled back at him. "So, Rhea, we have any questions yet?"

She nodded, already having written a few onto her notebook, trying to keep a line of questions that seemed to flow nicely. "Why doesn't Suneater do personal interviews like Lemillion does?"

Tamaki shifted his eyes back to the phone, clearing his throat. "Uh, well, honestly, because I get incredibly anxious around anyone that isn't in my immediate circle of friends. Interviews as Suneater, talking about my work is a little easier. But doing a personal interview means going as just plain old Tamaki and that just…. freaks me out a little."

"Tamaki used to not even be able to give presentations in school, so really he has made incredible progress in the past couple years!" Mirio said, Tamaki going a little redder and nodding.

"What is it like being the first confirmed gay hero couple amongst the pros?"

"Fantastic!" Mirio boomed as Tamaki said, "Kind of stressful."

"Could you elaborate on that, Tamaki?" Rhea adjusted her glasses. Over twenty thousand, yes! Ten thousand was the goal for the first ten minutes. They crushed that.

"Uh," his head tilted, thinking. "Well, I do know that a lot of young people are looking at us as role models, and there is a lot of pressure in that. Going to UA… they teach you how to be a role model in the sense of quirk usage for the sake of good. But nobody hands you a guide on how to be a gay man, or bisexual man," he looked down at Mirio. "Worthy of having people look at your relationship as an example. It's a lot of pressure, I think."

Mirio nodded and shrugged.

"I'd like you to look these over really quick," Rhea stood, holding a few questions up on a page, not wanting to say one out loud that they didn't want to answer.

Mirio grabbed the notebook, shuffling though, bursting out in laughter. Showing a couple questions to Tamaki, renewing the blush on his cheeks. "Oof guys, getting explicit quick, aren't ya? How about this one though?" he pointed to one on the page.

"Oh, that's pretty easy. The question is 'Who was interested first?'" Tamaki looked back into the camera. "That'd be me. I probably wouldn't have even applied to UA if not for wanting to stay close to Mirio. I didn't realize at the time that I was in love with him, but I was."

Mirios cheeks flushed this time. "Jeez, babe." He pecked him quickly with a kiss. "Next question…?"

Rhea moved back to her spot to gather more questions. The comments were a mix of people asking actual questions, gushing over how cute they are together, and being lewd. Viewers just kept coming in.

"Any pet names?"

"Schmookie poo!" Mirio burst into laughter. "No, not really, pretty much just babe, I think? And he has been known to call me the Sun before." This time his voice softened, looking up at Tamaki and smiling.

"Do we need to tell them everything?" Tamaki chuckled, kind of mumbling, and blushing again.

"That's actually how he got his hero name, Suneater!" it no more than crossed his lips when his eyes widened. "But…not like that! Oh jeez!"

They both laughed, answering every question on the notebook page that wasn't sexual in nature. Eventually they moved to the kitchen, propping the phone up so neither had to hold it, and they could get snacks and drinks while Rhea picked back up giving them the questions.

"How does Nejire-chan feel about the other two members of the big three being in a relationship?"

"She's always been in our corner. We try to meet up with her a couple times a month to keep the three of us as close as ever!"

Tamaki nodded, taking a bite of his snack.

"Mirio, how do your parents feel about your dating a childhood friend?"

He chuckled, "Dare I say they like Tamaki more than they like me! We haven't made our way home since we've been official, but hopefully we can soon!"

Tamaki felt his heart ache a little, appreciating that Rhea directed the question specifically to Mirio instead of to the entire room.

"What is your favorite story to tell about each other?"

Mirio immediately launched into a story about the first time he tried using his quirk at grade school, leaving him naked and half stuck in a wall. Tamaki had come to the rescue with a curtain he ripped from the window and stood guard so the other kids wouldn't take his curtain away.

Tamaki told the story of the first time they met, and how Mirio helped him learn how to better make friends.

"How did you get Tamaki to agree to do this livestream?" Rhea smiled when she repeated the question to them.

Mirio laughed, "Well you can thank the interview this morning for lighting a fire under his butt!"

Tamaki shrugged. "I figured I should clear up anything that might have been misconstrued this morning. And so far, interacting with our fans like this doesn't make me as anxious. Kind of hard to get nervous in front of a crowd when the only ones you can see are your partner and publicist!" he smiled.

In total, the livestream went on for two and a half hours, getting international viewers and hundreds of thousands of comments.

A total homerun.

* * *

-Mirio-

"Okay guys, I think that's it for tonight! We have some things to move-"

"Mirio!" They both cut me off in unison.

"What?!" I almost dropped the phone I'd just picked back up. "Oh…yeah!"

"May as well say it now," Rhea rolled her eyes.

"Tamaki?" I looked at him for his approval, keeping my face still in the camera of my phone.

He groaned, and nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well there I go again, guys! Letting cats out of bags!" I couldn't help the laugh that came with my words. "We have to get off of here because before all of the craziness this morning we rented a truck, because… WE'RE MOVING IN TOGETHER! Awesome, right?! And 'cause my phone will die soon. Anyway, have a good night, say bye, babe!"

I turned the phone around, pointing it at Tamaki, leaned against the counter, so he could wave before turning it back to me. "Bye!"

I poked the screen, then hit the 'End Stream' button, tossing the phone to the counter.

"Whoo! That wasn't so bad, right?" I hopped over to Tamaki, leaning into him.

"Mirio?" I vaguely heard Rhea while he responded, "No, I think that was the easiest interview I've ever had!"

"Mirio!" Rhea came into the kitchen, grabbing the phone, putting a finger over the camera before lifting it up. "You have to confirm to end the stream!"

"Oh!" I grabbed the phone, my face popping back up on the screen "Whoops, that's embarrassing!"

I hit confirm, waiting for the screen to go back to normal before putting it back on the counter.

Tamakis face turned red, throwing his head back and chuckling. "How'd it do?"

Rhea went back to her laptop, also picking up her phone. "Boys, this was a smash fucking success as far as I can tell!"

"So, what makes a livestream a success, exactly?"

"Well you're already trending on almost every social media platform. Plus, I've gotten an incredible amount of angry media outlets in the email talking about 'being robbed of content.' If a media outlet would've wanted the content on their networks, then we can bet it's at least decent. Not to mention, it's looking like at the height of viewership you had two point four million people tuned in, and around seven million people in total checked in on it at one point or another."

"Seven million?!" Tamaki squeaked.

"I'm actually surprised it isn't higher! With the amount of time we were on I figured there'd be more." I chuckled, Tamaki had never really been into social media, so not surprising that he didn't know the numbers that pros usually get in our interactions.

"It would've crashed if the system didn't limit it a little." She adjusted in her chair, fingers flying over her phone, typing something. "The number of views is still climbing."

"I don't even want to think about it." Tamaki laid his head on my shoulder, sighing.

"Then I guess we should move! Rhea paid to rush the truck and we haven't even used it!"

"This took priority!" Rheas fingers still moving a mile a minute, not looking up to talk.

"She's right." He placed a kiss on my neck, making heat bloom in my stomach. "But so are you. Let's go get some stuff!"

* * *

-Tamaki-

A text from Fat Gum pulled me away from the box I was unpacking.

-Youve always been so low maintenance. You get with Mirio and suddenly its dealing with media every other day (Crying Face Emoji) I've gotten emails galore asking for comments on you two. Nice livestream BTW. Rest up, I'll see you in the morning.-

-Thanks. See u then.-

"'Maki! Help me out?"

I tossed my phone to the bed and headed out to the kitchen to see what he needed. "What's up?"

He was turning something over in his hands. "What even is this?"

As I got closer, I saw what it was he had. "Oh! That's part of my mixer. I don't ever use that one though, so it's with the miscellaneous stuff instead of the mixer stuff."

His brows pulled together slightly as he side eyed me. "How did you even fit all of this stuff in your kitchen?"

"Sheer willpower….and messy, jampacked cabinets."

He chuckled, tossing the attachment back in the box. "Probably the miscellaneous stuff should be handled _after_ the bigger stuff?"

"I would say so. Want me to take over in here? You could start in on those?" I motioned to the boxes that had been tossed to the couch when we walked in.

"Of course!" he practically skipped out of the kitchen. "What's the plan with your furniture? I think the next trip we could get most, if not all, of it in the truck since you don't have a lot of other stuff left."

"Well, that depends. Are you wanting to use the second bedroom as a guest room or what? If so, we could put my bed and such in there for if anyone stays, but I figured you might have other plans for it."

"Oh? Like what?" his voice was further away, probably putting stuff in the bedroom while I made my way through the kitchen boxes.

"I don't know. Figured you'd want like… an office or something." I didn't think the comment warranted a laugh, but one boomed through the apartment as his head popped back into the kitchen.

"Do people our age do that? Aren't home offices a middle-aged thing?"

I shrugged, breaking down the box I'd just emptied. "Maybe… home gyms and such aren't though. We could get a couple machines or something to put in there."

"Oh, I like the sound of that! Maybe a game room or something so we could host game night? Oh jeez! I never really thought about what to do with it before! What do you think?"

"I like both of those ideas." I opened the next box, which was filled with food. "But it's your place, ultimately your decision."

He huffed, full body entering the kitchen now, smile still splayed across his lips though. "The whole point of all of this is that it's _our_ place. Meaning it's _our_ decision."

"I… I guess you're right!" A chuckle found its way out of me.

"Heck yeah I am!" he hopped up on the counter next to the box I was unpacking. "So, what do you think?"

I thought about it for a second as I made my way to the pantry, putting stuff up and rearranging a bit. "I think that with a gym at each of our agencies and one here in the building, it might be silly to put one in here. So probably the game room. Since we now have two of almost every console, we could easily use up the space for that and a gaming table and such."

"OH! Maybe an air hockey table!"

"How is it that we move in together and we make it look _more_ like a bachelor pad?"

We both laughed, me making my way back over to him and leaning into his chest.

"But really, what do we do about your furniture?"

* * *

"So… the time has come." The setting sun cast shadows over the womans face, her lowered voice made the hair on Tamaki's body stand nervously on end as her eyes targeted him.

He swallowed hard, willing his voice to stay steady, "Like hell."

Her deep chuckle made his stomach turn as he weighed his options. Would it be fight or flight?

A much brighter chuckle ripped through the office space, almost prying the two from death glaring each other. "Guys! Calm down! It's not that big of a deal!"

It was her turn this time, "Like hell!"

Mirio leaned over the large desk. "Listen… maybe I could just-"

"I have spent YEARS working with and around this. After the response we got last week, I've made an executive decision. You _will_ do this, or I will do it for you. Which means _I_ would be controlling the narrative shared… Surely you don't want that." Her wicked smile contorted her shadow cast face.

"Villainy isn't a good look on you, Rhea." Tamaki laced his voice with as much venom as he could muster, not sure how to feel about his publicists evil looking face or his boyfriends amused one.

"Maybe not, Mister Amajiki, but it sure gets shit done." She smiled finally lifting her face to properly look him head on. "So, who's doing it… you or me?"

"Don't you need my permission or something?"

"Oh, not in the slightest. I'd just have to label it a fan page at first, but once I started releasing exclusive Suneater content…it'd get verified pretty quickly." The smugness in her voice irritated him.

"I'm pretty sure this goes against contract or something."

"Actually, as your publicist she totally can unless you specifically put something against social media in your contract… which I doubt you did."

This time he side eyed Mirio.

"Don't look at me like that! Listen, its not like you have to post all the time or anything. Just an occasional photo or update on how you're doing and they'll eat it up!" the blonde leaned down to speak in his boyfriends ear. "And it just might get you out of doing so many interviews and events. Barter, babe!"

The low vibration of his phone pulled Tamaki out of the conversation. "Hey, Deedra."

"DEE!" Mirio shouted, getting as close to the phone as he could, face inches from Tamaki's. "What's up!"

"Hey there, boys. I was just wondering where you are?"

"We're at my publicists office at the moment. Why, do you need something? We can stop by once we leave here." Rather than let Mirio strain his ears, Tamaki switched the call over to speaker.

"Uh- Well… Did you send someone over early for your furniture?"

"No… that's happening on Tuesday. Why?"

"Well, sweetie, someone is in your apartment."

Tamaki's eyes immediately met Mirio's.

"Could it be the property manager?" the blonde cut in.

"No, they only do walk throughs every other month and upon maintenance request. You didn't send anyone over did you Rhea?" Tamaki already stood from his chair.

"No."

"Did you see them go in?" Mirio asked, his feet already shifting impatiently underneath him.

"I didn't, but my girls did," the elderly womans voice lowered slightly. "Said they didn't recognize them. I have only seen one through the window, but-"

"Wait...Deedra, are you outside right now?" Tamaki cut her off, sliding out of his jacket.

"Well yes, I was trying to see-"

"Dee, go inside and lock the doors. We'll be there in twenty minutes."

"We'll be there in eight." Tamaki corrected. "How long have they been there?"

"Oh, a few minutes. The girls only came in just before I called."

"Good. Now get inside and stay there until you hear directly from us. Okay?" he pushed his dark hair to the side, turning to Mirio. "Got your liscense?"

The blonde nodded.

"I'll call dispatch." Rhea pulled up her office phone while Tamaki pulled open the large window of the office.

"We doing what I think we're doing?" a small smile crept onto Lemillions face as he watched his boyfriend step to the side, wings beginning to sprout from his back, tearing at the regular shirt he wore.

"Yeah, I guess we are. Rhea, let them know we aren't uniformed, don't feel like getting shot."

He barely had the sentence out of his mouth before Mirio took off, launching himself out the open window.

The gust of wind created by large wings was all the signal the publicist needed to know that her client had nose dived after his partner, likely already caught midair by the time the call was picked up.

"Hello, I am calling from the office of pro hero Suneater. Hero ID number being three-eight-five-eight-six-two. We received a breaking and entering call from the neighbor of his currently vacant apartment. Both Suneater and Lemillion are checking out the disturbance and have their licenses on hand, they are in plains clothes though and just wanted to give a heads up so officers aren't caught off guard."

"Appreciate the call ma'am, if you get an address for me, I will send a squad car over.

* * *

"Ready?" he had to shout to be heard over the wind rushing past their ears.

"Oh yeah! Tuck and roll, I remember!"

Mirio twisted his head as much as he could to catch the quick nod and refocused on the building they were rocketing towards. The tightening of Tamaki's arms around his chest was the only warning he had before the smaller man tucked his wings, dropping them withing range quicker than the blonde had been ready for.

_He's gotten better at this._

Tamaki's arms let Mirio loose a split second before he again unfurled his wings, painfully halting his body to a near complete stop before shifting his weight and shooting around the corner of the building.

The figure standing in the hall immediately noticed as the hulking blonde permeated through the front wall. Rolling to plant one foot and the other knee, he ended in a crouch, taking a moment to focus on the figure's widening eyes before launching for him. Midair he heard the shattering of glass as Tamaki broke through the bedroom window.

The figure didn't make a full step before the Lemillion tackled him, face pressing to the hallway carpet, wrists restrained painfully tight and legs pinned by Mirio's weight.

Just before finishing the pin of the figure he felt the air above him shift as Tamaki launched over them, starting to clear the rest of the apartment. Entry and take down finished in under three seconds.

"Are you alone?"

"I-Y-yeah! I-I'm alone!" the mans voice could barely qualify as a squeak.

"Anyone outside we need to know about?"

"N-No! It's j-just me! I swear!"

"Lemillion, we're all clear. Who are you and why are you here?" Tamaki reappeared, the darkness making him look like the brunette version of Hawks with the outline of large wings at his back.

"I- I'm Aaron Sheeks, and I was looking for you!"

"Your quirk? You have any weapons on you?" With Tamaki questioning Mirio set to work patting down the figure below him, checking for any concealed weapons.

Another sound rattled from the man, Aaron, pathetically close to a whimper. "P-Please can you p-put clothes on?!"

Mirio had to fight the chuckle from leaving his mouth, failing to keep the smirk at bay. "Suneater?"

Tamaki nodded, unleashing tentacles to restrain the intruder so the blonde could release him and head for the door to retrieve his clothes from outside. When the lovers eyes met Tamaki quickly moved his in the direction of Deedra's apartment, Mirio's subtle nod before he ducked out of the door was confirmation enough that he'd understood. "Why were you looking for me?"

"I have information for you, a-about the P-Pride. I didn't know where else to go!"

"The Pride… You're from the Kouman organization?"

The scrawny frame of the intruder nodded, sweat dripping down his pale face and eyes caught somewhere between being scrunched in fear and wide as a deer in headlights.

"Kouman has been stagnant for months, why come forward with information now?"

"They're a-about to start distribution on new products. Stuff that shouldn't be on the streets."

"None of what the Kouman puts out should be on the streets. What makes this stuff any different, what changed?"

"The stuff we usually put out is _safe_." The voice cracked out of the smaller man, who immediately looked like he regretted the tone that he used, face snapping back into a fearful expression. "I-I mean, I know it's illegal and stuff! I just think that everyone should be able t-to protect themselves if they can. Our stuff is designed to near perfection and tested thoroughly before it's distributed to aid with that. The stuff they're about to send out…" there was a loud swallow as the man shook his head. "It isn't tested, it isn't being held to any safety standards or anything. Multiple designs, if you could even call them that, have had _major_ issues. Like causing nerve damage from the equipment's vitals scanners, spontaneous combustion, or even causing weird topical injuries on multiple customers, and that's just from the stuff that actually stays together! They have only filled about twenty orders of the new equipment and already there have been four fatal injuries and twelve minor ones… That's not what I signed up to h-help do."

Tamaki stayed quiet after listening to him speak, just to release him from his hold. "You're not just some dim-witted gang member, you've clearly got a head on your shoulders. So, I trust you won't do anything stupid and try to run now that you've told me this much?"

He shook his head, slumping back against the wall.

"Are you willing to be an official informant? If so it would mean testifying once we have enough evidence to bring the Pride down, if you remain anonymous there is less of a chance of being found out as a traitor to Kouman, but less likely that charges brought against them stick if nobody else steps forward with information."

"D-Don't you guys a-already have Breaker for that?"

The hero paused for a moment, realizing he probably should have stayed in closer contact with Enterlock these past few months. "Breaker has been uncooperative with our investigation. Getting him to testify might be easier if someone else steps forward though."

"W-would I have to like… talk to him?" Tamaki didn't miss the way Aarons eyes darted around the room, swallowing nervously despite being released already.

"Talk to who? Breaker?"

He nodded.

"No, you wouldn't be allowed to speak to each other pre testimony. We would also be able to provide you with protection should you choose to give us more information." _I have the authority to make that happen…right? _

"So… how does it work?"

"Are you agreeing to be an official informant?"

"I-I mean, I guess. Am I still going to jail?"

"I can't guarantee there wont still be jail time, but it could be significantly lessened if you did cooperate."

The mans lip seemed to quiver at that, eyes staying on the floor. "A-all right… I'm already here, so I might as well do it."

Tamaki nodded, taking a few steps back and motioning to the living room wall to the side of himself. "I'd like for you to take a seat over there. I'll be stepping outside; I wouldn't suggest moving from that spot until I come back in." He continued speaking as Aaron made his way over to where the hero directed him. "Our sidekick outside will inform us should you move from the spot you're in and we will assume you're making a break for it. Don't."

With that he opened the door and nearly collided with Mirio, now dressed again, who bent down and whispered, "Sidekick?" into Tamaki's pointed ear.

"Roll with it, the officers will be here I just a second."

"How do you know?"

"Response time is roughly ten minutes from the station to here. It took us seven to get here. How's Deedra?"

"I wont even ask how you know that off the top of your head. And Dee is good, in there sipping wine like nothing happened." He took on a sheepish smile and scratched at the back of his head. "I figured I'd leave the questions for you. What do you need me to do right now?"

"He's agreeing to be an informant against Kouman. Says they're about to put untested equipment out in the streets, but I didn't ask for a lot of details yet. Why don't you talk to the officer and let him know we took care of the guy. We're going to need to transport him to a safehouse. I'll call FatGum and work out a game plan."

He nodded, heading off in the direction of the street to meet with the officers when they arrived. "You got it, babe."

Quickly pulling out his phone, Tamaki dialed Fat Gum and waited for him to pick up.

"Heeello?"

"Taishiro, I'm at my old apartment right now where a guy named Aaron Sheeks just broke in. Said he has information for us on Kouman and some faulty equipment they're about to put on the streets. He's agreed to be an official informant and will testify if it comes down to it, so long as we can keep the Pride off of him. Can we make that happen?"

"What?! Of course we can!" Scrambling and a couple crashes could be heard over the line. "You good? Need medical or anything?"

"No, Mirio is with me, police are talking to him now. He's going to let them know it was a mishap with an informant and that we'll be handling it. Sheeks didn't fight us or anything, just started talking once we got there. Can you get a car over here? Maybe my costume if you're at the office."

"I am, I'll be there in fifteen."

* * *

A/N: Okay guys! So, sorry this took longer than previous chapters! I am having a ton of trouble figuring out how to get my ideas down in a way that flows well. I don't _really_ like the way that I write, so forcing myself to get in there and do it is a struggle at times. I'm trying though!

Anyways! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe during all of this corona craziness! Let me know what you think!


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